Destinies Collide: Olympus Rising
by Reixe
Summary: When the digital world falls into peril once again, Gennai fears that the might of the Digidestined may not be enough. Diving into the ancient history of the digital world he seeks to enlist the help of the very first Digidestined: The Legendary Warriors. With their help can the Digidestined defeat the newest evil in the digital world? 02 x 04 Crossover.
1. First Contact

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon in any form. All characters and Digimon of this story are owned by their respective owners. No copy right infringement intended.**

**Author's Note: **This is my first fan fiction and I couldn't think of a better way to start out than with Digimon. It's one of my all time favorite series. ^^ Moving on, since this is my first fic, I'm looking forward to any helpful criticism and I hope to hear from you guys in the reviews. Now I'm pretty sure I should just start the story, huh? No need for the AN to bring up the word count too much. Let's get started.

**First Contact**

Light filtered in through the blinds, entering a once dark bedroom. The light crept across the room before conveniently stopping on a bed. The bed Sheets looked crumpled and wild. From within the tangled mess sounded a groan. Apparently, the light had woken the bed's occupant.

With a groan, the bed's occupant sat up slowly as he rubbed the sleep out of his reddish-brown eyes. His hair was brown and unruly, something he blamed on the ever present battle against the forces of evil: bed head. The brunette was named Takuya Kanbara. The 17 year old who is the Legendary Warrior of Flame and the leader of the Legendary Warriors yawned and brought his hand to his dresser. He searched around for his alarm clock, but ended up grabbing his D-Tector instead. It was a black and red device and as he looked at it fond memories of his time spent in the digital world floated through his mind.

It had already been a good few years since his adventures in the digital world with his friends, but there wasn't a day that went by Takuya didn't think about it. After the final battle with Lucemon he and his friends returned to the real world to find that it hadn't even been an hour since the moment they went to the digital world despite having spent six months there. They were happy they hadn't been reported missing or something since they left. Despite how happy they were to be home, the six of them always wished they could return to the digital and see the friends they made there again.

The six of them found that their D-Tector's never returned to being normal cell phones. They had a hard time making up lies about why they needed new phones to their parents, but it all worked out in the end. As for their D-Tector's, despite their best efforts the six of them could never use their D-Tector's as digivices again – not yet anyway. Even so, it was always worth checking for a change every day. With that in mind, Takuya clicked one of the buttons on the red and black device, but much like the last time he tried, nothing happened.

Sighing to himself, Takuya set the D-Tector on his bed and brought his hand back to his dresser. Deciding to actually look this time, he grabbed hold of his alarm clock and checked the time. It read 8:50. He sat there for a moment, narrowing his eyes in tired scrutiny before they widened and he jumped out of bed. He was supposed to meet his friends in ten minutes.

"Crap!" he yelled as he ran to his closet. He almost tripped as he tried to pull on his black jeans and his socks. From there Takuya grabbed a white shirt and pulled it over his head as he slipped his feet into his red and black sneakers. Racing to the other side of his room, Takuya grabbed his crimson jacket and slipped it on before pulling his black cap over his hair, his red goggles going on top of the cap, holding it in place on his head. He went back to his bed, grabbing his D-Tector and then his phone from his dresser before he ran out.

Takuya skipped stairs as he ran down. The smell of eggs caught his attention as he landed at the bottom of the stairs with a thud. He was tempted to eat, but if he did he knew his friends would get on his case, especially considering he was already going to be late – again.

"Takuya, breakfast is ready!" called his mother from the kitchen. The warrior of flames ran past the kitchen's entrance, telling his mom that he was late and not eating. Before his mother, Yuriko, could get a response in he was already out the door, closing it with a careless slam. Yuriko sighed as she set the table, wondering all the while, what she would do with her overly energetic son.

* * *

Takuya ran down the street in a panic, his goggles keeping his cap in place on his head_._ Groaning, Takuya rounded a corner and ran down a gravel path, wondering why he could never wake up when his alarm went off. He'd set it last night, he remembered setting it. So why could he never wake up on time? He was positive everyone was waiting for him – and that Koji and Zoe were going to be angry.

With the angered face of Zoe infiltrating his thoughts, he picked up speed and rounded another corner. If he'd looked where he was going he might have been able to prevent what happened next. Takuya slammed into something smaller and lighter than him, sending that something to the ground with a feminine grunt. His momentum brought him down too, his D-Tector falling from his jacket pocket. As Takuya rubbed the sore spot on his head he looked to see what he'd hit. Takuya quickly realized he hadn't hit something, but instead _someone. _

The girl in front of him was a brunette like himself except her hair was a lighter shade. It was shoulder length and her bangs parted, showing off her forehead. A red hairclip kept the bangs on her left in place. She was wearing a pink shirt and white skirt. On her feet were sandals and around her neck hung what looked to be a camera. Her eyes, which were filled with surprise and some other look he couldn't place as she stared back at him, were vibrant and a light shade of brown. All in all, Takuya thought this girl was something else – and he meant that in the _best _way.

"Um…"

Her voice brought Takuya out of his thoughts and just as he was about to apologize his phone started ringing. His face tensed at the sound – it was the ringtone he'd assigned Zoe. His mind back on his original objective, Takuya scrambled to his feet, grabbing his fallen D-Tector without giving it any thought.

"I'm really sorry about that, but I gotta go. See ya'!" With that, Takuya took off again, missing the moment the girl got to her feet and called after him. Even if he had heard, he was too focused on not being skinned alive by Zoe to care.

* * *

The girl in the pink shirt watched the boy run away despite her yelling for him. He seemed to be in a rush, so she figured he didn't hear her, but now they both had a big problem. Her cell fell from her bag when he'd knocked her down and in his haste he'd grabbed it instead of his phone. She never thought a visit to her relatives in Shibuya could result in something like this. Her name was Hikari "Kari" Kamiya. She was 15 and the Digidestined graced with the crest of light. She'd finished her adventures in the digital world with the defeat of Armageddemon just a few years ago and now she was living peacefully with her friends and fellow Digidestined, visiting the digital world every once in a while so they could meet their partner digimon and see each other face to face despite their busy schedules.

Figuring she could just use the boy's cell to call her own and meet up with him, she turned around to pick his up, but that's when she realized something. Kari heard his phone ring, and the noise followed him as he left. If that was the case, what did he drop? Curious, she looked down and her eyes widened in shock. Laying on the ground was a red and black device. More specifically it was a digivice – and it was a model she'd never seen before. She made a quick turn and now she couldn't even see the boy anymore. He was fast, maybe even faster than her brother, Tai.

Kari picked up the boy's digivice and quickly made her way out of the park. That boy was another Digidestined. How he'd managed to stay hidden for so long despite all that's happened, she didn't know, but one thing was for sure, she had to find him again. She and Tai would need to go back to Odaiba as quickly as possible. Thankfully it was their last day visiting; her relatives wouldn't mind if they cut the visit just a little shorter. They could always use the excuse of school on Monday after all. Besides, finding this boy and making sure he got back his digivice was more of a priority right now. She also wondered _why_ there would need to be a new model digivice. Was the digital world in trouble again? If it was, why didn't Gennai call them? It was too much to think about by herself. Shaking away her thoughts, she broke out into a run. She needed to get this digivice to Izzy – as soon as possible.

* * *

"Taku!"

The yell sent a shiver down Takuya's spine and he wanted to turn tail now that he was nearing his friends. Just like the last few weekends, Takuya was meeting with his friends, the other five Legendary Warriors, in the park. When he was late yesterday, Zoe had given him a super scolding and Koji glared at him for what felt like an eternity. He knew it was going to happen again today.

"H-hey Zoe…" replied the once fearless warrior of flame with a sheepish grin. He wasn't scared of much, but an angered Zoe could frighten even the strongest of men. Izumi "Zoe" Orimoto was his comrade, friend, and sister in all but blood. She's the Legendary Warrior of wind and the only female member of the group. Now 17, she's changed since her shy days before the digital world when she had no friends. Zoe goes to an all-girls school and has plenty of friends now thanks to her confidence boost from her digital adventure. The Wind warrior hadn't only changed in terms of relationships though. She'd grown into a beautiful young lady.

Zoe no longer wore her purple hat, her blond hair was left free, longer than it was the day she'd met the other warriors; her hair was in a high ponytail and her bangs fell over her forehead, some of her hair even dropping as far as her (currently) fierce green eyes. She had a frown gracing her lips that didn't do her looks justice, but even Takuya admitted that Zoe still looked good when she was angry – he just wished she wasn't angry all the time. Zoe was wearing blue skinny jeans and a blue shirt that showed off her midriff. Over the shirt was an unzipped, purple hooded vest. On her feet she wore purple and white sneakers.

"Why are you late? _Again_?" She asked, putting extra emphasis on the word "again." She loved her leader like a brother, and she'd do anything to protect him, but she absolutely hated his inability to be on time to just about everything.

"Did you manage to not hear your alarm clock again, Takky?" Called the joking voice of Junpei "J.P." Shibayama as a grin spread across his face at Takuya shrinking away from Zoe at his question. J.P. is the Legendary Warrior of Thunder and is the oldest of the group, being 18. Unlike the others, he was already in college and doing very well in his classes; he was majoring in engineering. J.P. had changed a lot since their time in the digital world. After their battles, the six of them decided to stay in fighting form and took up various forms of martial arts to stay sharp. Through the training, J.P. replaced his somewhat flabby exterior with muscle so he didn't look so round anymore.

J.P. had long since gotten rid of his blue and yellow jumpsuit, trading it in for a dark yellow shirt that showed off his muscles (which he took pride in) and Baggy blue jeans. His sneakers were a dark blue. His hair was still as spiky as it was in the digital world and he'd been keeping it trimmed so the style hadn't changed much. His eyes were brown like his hair and held a mischievous glint in them at just about all times.

"Sorry," replied Takuya, sighing. He knew this would happen. Now the only thing left was for Koji to call him stupid and for Zoe to chew him out. He waited for the girl to begin, but was met with a small sigh instead.

"Yeah, yeah," she sighs, "look, just try to wake up on time for now on, okay? Especially when _you're _the one trying to get us to meet up, Taku." Takuya might have gaped in surprise if he wasn't so thankful that she hadn't chewed him out. He thought that the day might actually be looking up now.

"Stupid."

Takuya glared at his best friend (which he was now reconsidering), Koji Minamoto. He avoided being chewed out by Zoe, but it seems Koji would never change. Much like Takuya, Koji was 17 and he was also the Legendary Warrior of Light. He was reserved and quiet and tended to only make mean or indifferent remarks, but deep down everyone knew he cared for them all like family. Now all he needed to do was lighten up. Koji was dressed in blue jeans, a grey shirt, and a blue and white jacket. He wore white sneakers and a white and blue camouflage bandana which covers the black hair he has pulled into a ponytail. His dark blue eyes met Takuya's glare impassively.

Koji went to the same school with Takuya and Koji's brother, Koichi Kimura. Koichi, the older of the twins and in Takuya's opinion, the "fun twin" is the Legendary Warrior of Darkness. Koichi was once reserved and quiet, but after leaving the digital world, with his friends behind him, he was able to overcome his problems and reservations. In terms of personality, he'd changed the most, doing a complete 180. He was now a very happy teen, unafraid to smile and was always up for something fun. It was a long running joke between the warriors that Koji and Koichi should switch elements to better match themselves.

Koichi, like his brother has dark blue eyes and black hair. Unlike his brother, he wears nothing on his head and his hair parts to the sides of his face. He wears black jeans and a dark grey button up shirt with grey sneakers. Speaking of the fun twin, he was currently looking on at the scene unfolding in front of him with obvious amusement.

"I don't think you're stupid, Takuya," said the youngest of the group. Takuya turned to him and gave him a large smile in reply.

"Thanks, Tommy."

13-year-old Tomoki "Tommy" Himi is the last of the warriors and the Legendary Warrior of Ice. He's come a long way from the shy yet spoiled brat he was at the start of his digital adventure. Tommy's become reliable and kept his kind heart. He stopped being protected and now protects others. Tommy even overcame his bullies and now he's friends with them.

Having outgrown his previous outfit, Tommy wears a dark green shirt, blue jeans, and green sneakers. He switched out his large orange hat for something smaller and white. His face matured and it lost some of its childish roundness. He'd put on a bit more muscle thanks to martial arts and his brown hair is a little longer now. His eyes are sea green.

"Well," said Koichi, "Now that Takuya is here, we can finally do something. Let's not waste such a beautiful day," he smiled. The day was, in fact, beautiful. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the weather was perfect; not to warm or too hot. The sun was shining overhead; perfect weather for a day out.

"How about some soccer?" asks Tommy, immediately getting a reaction out of Takuya. Being his school team's striker, Takuya leads them to many victories. He's an ace with a bright future in soccer if he wants to take that road and Tommy seemed to have picked up some of his love for the sport. Unfortunately the same can't be said for all their companions.

"We played that last time, Tommy," replied Zoe, sighing inwardly. She still hadn't gotten the grass stains out of her other pair of jeans from last weekend's soccer game. It was fun, she couldn't deny that, but she wasn't looking to ruin her whole closet. "How about something different? What do you think, Koji?" she asked.

Koji glanced in her direction and shrugged, he wouldn't have minded the soccer, if only to try and beat Takuya, but he wouldn't mind doing something else either. Zoe sighed at his response, she should have known he would only shrug. Still, it was worth a try.

"How about a movie?" inquires J.P. as he messes with his phone, looking for anything good that might be showing.

"I'm up for one. It's gotta be horror though, I heard a really good one just came out," pipes up Koichi excitedly, a smile spreading across his face.

"No way! I hate horror!" argued Zoe, already visibly shaking at the mere thought of having to watch such a film.

"Aw, Come on Zoe," said Takuya, flashing her a bright smile, "We'll even go to the theater in the mall so you can go shopping after; just to cheer you up after the movie." The other four members of the team tensed at his suggestion, knowing that Zoe could literally shop till she dropped or in this case, shop till _they _dropped. Zoe, for her part, had mixed feelings. She really didn't want to watch that movie, but all the potential clothes she could buy was just so tempting. She even figured she could use a bit of her feminine charm to persuade J.P. into buying her some clothes too. Taking a few more seconds to think it over, Zoe made up her mind. The new outfit's were too much to pass up.

"You've got a deal, Taku," beamed Zoe, already imagining her new clothes.

* * *

Takuya walked around the mall with a frown. He had at least three bags in each of his hands and he was starting to regret offering to shop with Zoe. Said warrior of wind was happily walking ahead of him. His discontentment with shopping wasn't the only thing bothering him though. He felt like something was missing, but he couldn't put a finger on what. Sighing, he decided to forget about it for now as he followed Zoe to the food court.

J.P. groaned as he dropped six bags onto the floor and slumped into a chair at the table. The food court around him was bustling with noise as people chatted about their day and nothing in general. The jovial mood around him did nothing to help though. The horror flick was going to give him a bad dream; he could _feel _it. As for shopping with Zoe, she'd nearly cleaned out his wallet. He hated being wrapped around her delicate little fingers, but he couldn't help it.

"If I ever see another clothing store again," J.P. groaned out, slamming his head on the table, "It'll be too soon."

"Amen to that," sighed Takuya, slipping into the seat Between Zoe and Koichi.

"You guys are a bunch of babies. It wasn't that bad. We were only shopping for two hours." J.P., Koichi, Koji, and Takuya groaned at the mere mention of how long they'd been shopping. Tommy lucked out when his mom called him home for a little family time. Takuya assumed it was something else entirely though. Tommy's parents could never understand why he started hanging out with a group of older kids and none of them had even dared to tell their parents about their adventure in the digital world. His folks were concerned about Tommy getting involved in a bad crowd.

Obviously, Mr. and Mrs. Himi had nothing to worry about, Takuya and the others would never dream of steering their young friend wrong, but for now there was nothing they could do about his parents worrying. They'd just have to wait it out and hope they'd understand at some point down the road.

"Two hours is a long time to shop, Zoe," replied Koji. Zoe simply rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "boys."

"I'll go order our food, what do you guys want?" asked Koichi with a smile. The group relayed their food choices and after J.P. offered to help out, he and Koichi walked off.

"So, Taku," started Zoe, grabbing the warrior of flame's attention, "any luck getting in contact with Lady Ophanimon?" At the mention of anything related to the digital world, Takuya heaved a long sigh. He'd tried this morning of course – with no luck. Sliding his hand into his pocket in search of his D-Tector he replied.

"No. I tried but I didn't get any-"

Takuya suddenly stopped. His eyes growing wide as he jerked his hand out of his pocket. His sudden movement startled his two friends.

"What's wrong with you, Takuya?" grunted Koji, rudely.

"My D-Tector… it's gone."

Zoe gasped at his words and Koji raised a worried brow. His best friend lost his D-Tector? He couldn't even imagine how that could occur. Takuya was a lot of things, but he wasn't forgetful, and he definitely wouldn't misplace something so important.

"Do you know how you lost it?" Koji asked, now serious. Takuya didn't respond, instead opting to look down at the piece of technology he'd pulled from his pocket. It was an iPhone in a pink case. Thinking back to everything that happened today, he figured out when he'd lost his D-Tector.

"Yeah… I bumped into this girl on the way to the park this morning. I grabbed her phone by accident…" Koji simply nodded as Zoe took the phone from him. She clicked the home button and the screen lit up, revealing a picture of some scenery Zoe didn't recognize. Sliding her finger across the screen, she hoped the phone wouldn't have a password and she was soon disappointed that it did.

"We may need some help unlocking this, Taku. We've got to get your D-Tector back. Odds are she picked it up thinking it was your cell," said Zoe, her voice laced with worry. Takuya nodded and took the phone from her again and just as he was about to say something, the screen lit up once more as the pink smart phone vibrated. They were getting a call from someone named "Tai."

"Maybe you aren't totally unlucky, Takuya. Convenient to be getting a call now," said the warrior of light, smirking all the while. He'd been teasing, but he was relieved to say the least. Here they were worrying and now Takuya's D-Tector was practically being dropped into their laps. Takuya ignored Koji's insult, but not before throwing him a glare. Answering the phone he put it up to his ear.

"Hello…?"

* * *

Gennai took a sip of tea as he sat in the grass of his garden. The old man was enjoying another peaceful day in the digital world. Little did he know, that peace was about to shattered and the events that followed would lead to the digital world's darkest days. For now though, the old man continued to sip his tea, blissfully unaware of the coming storm.

Across the land and the digital seas, far away from Gennai's home, a dark fog rolled across the ground. The crack of thunder sounded above. A bolt of lightning coursed through the clouds in the skies, striking a massive, winged figure shrouded by the clouds. The winged figure was struck twice more, sending it hurtling down to the digital land below. The ground shook at its impact, a massive crater forming from its fall. The figure broke apart into digital bits soon after.

A smaller figure appeared from the crash site. The figure stood there a moment, it's body turning, seemingly looking back at the large mountain that loomed over them even in the distance. Turning away, the figure ran from the crater, vanishing into the fog. Shortly after the figure's escape, two more figures landed near the crater.

"She's not here," said one figure, an irritated hissing noise coming from somewhere at their side. Their voice sounded cold and feminine.

"It's fine," replied the second figure, their voice booming and deep, "Ceresmon can run if she wants. We will find her… She can't stop us," he added in a dark undertone. Thunder clapped overhead at his words. With that, the two figures walked away, vanishing into the fog near the mountain.

* * *

To Be Continued…


	2. Making Plans

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon in any form. All characters and Digimon of this story are owned by their respective owners. No copy right infringement intended.**

**AN: **First of all, I need to thank **Sightbent **for their shout out in their latest chapter of **Crossing Worlds 2: Runners Prerogative** as well as the help they gave me ironing out some of the problems I was having while I was putting this story together. You really helped me Sightbent. Moving on,thanks for your reviews guys! They really got me motivated. The criticism in some of them is also going to help me stay on track and keep characters in perspective.

In reply to an Anonymous review, I'm not sure if I'll have any of the Seven Great Demon Lords or the Royal Knights make an appearance in this story. As for the little civil war, you may just be right. ^^

Well, moving on, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Since I got such a warm welcome from you all, I wanted to get this out rather quickly. It doesn't take me too long to type up chapters, but college does slow me down a bit. Thankfully, I don't have any early classes in the morning because I was up till 2 A.M. typing this up for you guys. Lol. Leave a review please; they are always appreciated. Well, on with the show.

**Making Plans**

Kari pushed the door to her relative's place open in a huff. After she walked in, she took a few seconds to catch her breath. The young Digidestined just ran from the park to here without stopping. In hindsight, considering she wasn't as athletic as her brother she was beginning to reconsider her decision, but she supposed getting the digivice she found back to its proper owner was more important. After a few more seconds of breathing, Kari had finally caught her breath. Making her way deeper into the house after taking off her shoes at the entrance, she saw her aunt in the kitchen.

"Auntie," called Kari. Her aunt, a slim older woman with dark brown hair smiled at her as she washed the dishes.

"Yes, dear?"

"Where's Tai? Is he still sleeping?" Kari's brother, Taichi "Tai" Kamiya, was the 19-year-old Digidestined bearing the crest of courage. Tai has a history of being able to sleep through just about anything – well, except Kari's whistle. When they were younger, she always used it to wake him up. These days, she personally didn't think the leader of the Digidestined should be sleeping all the time, but he always kept up with his responsibilities so she couldn't complain.

"No," replied her aunt. Kari raised an inquisitive brow, though her aunt couldn't see it from the kitchen. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Her brother, Tai, had actually woken up _on his own_? She couldn't help but wonder if this was the second coming of Apocalymon.

"Are you making a joke, Auntie?" Her aunt laughed, knowing full well why Kari would think she was kidding. The only time Tai ever used to wake up on his own was in the middle of the night when he needed to use the restroom. Aside from that, it was less likely to happen than Kari thinking digital photos were better than a picture you could hold in your hand or put in a frame, in other words, it was impossible.

"He got up a little while ago. Said something about going to see some new horror movie; just missed him."

Kari sighed. The one time she wished he was actually sleeping and he was out and about. Thanking her aunt, Kari walked past the living room and up the stairs to the room she was staying in for the weekend. Opening the door, Kari walked in and flopped onto her bed. She didn't have a way of really knowing when Tai was going to be back so she decided to just lay down and think.

Kari hadn't had much time to really think about the boy she'd literally run into today since she'd been so preoccupied with his digivice, but she did remember her thoughts after they'd fallen. The teen blushed slightly at the thought. She remembered looking at him and finding him more than just attractive. She didn't like the boy, she knew that. Kari didn't believe in love at first sight, but she could admit she found him very – appealing – to say the least.

She remembered very clearly how handsome he was, his muscular arms, and that deep voice she definitely wouldn't mind hearing again. Her cheeks darkened again, redder this time than the last. Kari turned onto her stomach and buried her face into her pillow, mumbling. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts before turning to her side and staring at her window.

"I think I've been letting Yolei talk about boys with me too much lately," the girl sighed, "I'm starting to think like her…" Having nothing else to think about aside from the boy from the park and his D-Tector, Kari decided to do something her brother would probably call her a hypocrite for later. She closed her eyes and decided to take a nap.

* * *

Kari opened her eyes groggily and the first thing she noticed was that she was sitting up. She could hear a familiar tune, some song her brother liked that usually only came on the radio. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she looked around and took notice of the passing scenery to her left. On her right was her brother, Tai, driving.

"Tai?" she asked, her voice sounding tired and soft. Her brother glanced over and flashed a smile.

"Hey, sleepyhead."

"Hey… why am I in the car?"

"When I got back I figured it was time to head back home. I saw you sleeping and decided to let you rest so I packed up your stuff. After loading up the car I carried you to the passenger's seat, got you all buckled in, and hit the road. You must have had some day if you took a nap; too tired to even wake up when I carried you," said her brother, his eyes once again focused on the road.

Kari nodded absentmindedly. She hadn't done much physically today, but her mind had been very active. She'd been so focused on the boy and his digivice…

_The boy and his digivice! _Thought Kari, the cobwebs that were once clouding her thoughts now swept away by the day's earlier events. Hoping the digivice hadn't been lost while Tai was packing her things into his car, she looked around for her bag. When she didn't see it, she began to worry.

"Tai, where's my bag? It's important!" the girl exclaimed. Tai raised a brow. Kari rarely yelled, so he assumed whatever the bag held really _was _of some importance.

"It's behind your seat… why…?"

Kari turned back as far as she could, grabbing her bag with a bit of effort, before turning back to the front as she rummaged through it. Finding what she was looking for, she pulled it out and showed it to Tai, thankful that they were at a stoplight because his reaction would have killed them otherwise. Tai saw her holding the "new" model digivice and let go of the wheel in surprise. He didn't even try to look at the road either.

"Is that…" Kari nodded, cutting him off. "How – how did you?" Kari told him of her morning. How she'd gone for a walk through the park, bumping into the boy, watching him run away, and then realizing that the phone she thought he'd dropped was in fact, a digivice. Tai had listened to her story attentively even when the light changed to green and he had to keep driving. His expression grew serious when she was finished. He couldn't believe it. There was another Digidestined so close to Odaiba and none of them had ever known.

"We need to get this to Izzy," he said as he reached into his pocket, grabbed his phone, and tossed it to Kari. "Call everyone. Tell them to be waiting at my apartment by the time we get back. We're having a meeting." Kari nodded; her brother had entered his "leader mode." Picking up his cell, she started to dial numbers and briefly gave herself a mental pat on the back for taking that nap. For some reason she had a feeling that she, and her many other friends, wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.

* * *

It was evening now; Tai and Kari had just arrived at his apartment and she recognized two of their friend's cars. Unfortunately, the only ones who could make it were Matt, Sora, Mimi, and of course, Izzy. Their other friends seemed to busy. She'd heard from T.K. that he, Yolei, and Davis were busy with a school project (one she'd finished already). Cody was busy with his grandfather, Joe was dealing with schoolwork, and Ken was getting some rest after a particularly tiring soccer practice. Kari knew it would be okay though, they could always get the others briefed on the situation later.

Kari and Tai got out of his car, not bothering to grab what little luggage he'd taken with him. Once their friends saw them Matt, Sora, and Izzy soon came to greet them. Matt had already been out on a date with Sora, so he had only needed to swing by Izzy's place on the way over. As for Mimi, she'd driven here herself. Speaking of Mimi, she'd just gotten out of her car and was walking over to them.

"So, why'd you call us here, Tai?" asked Yamato "Matt" Ishida, "Kind of interrupted my date with Sora." Matt was the bearer of the Crest of friendship. He was 19 and Tai's best friend and rival. Matt used to be a "lone wolf" type of guy, but after his adventures he'd opened up. Much older now than he was his initial trip to the digital world, he had an air of maturity about him that Kari often teased her older brother about not having. She'd say he needed to "grow up" like Matt, something Tai would frequently scowl about.

Matt was a little taller now than his second adventure in the digital world and his hairstyle hadn't changed much. The blonde's eyes were blue and he was wearing a black dress shirt with slacks and dress shoes of matching color. Next to Matt stood his girlfriend of one year, Sora Takenouchi. Sora was the Digidestined bearing the crest of love. She was a 17-year-old red head with eyes matching her hair. Sora's hair was short, but still longer than just a few years ago; it dropped to her shoulders. Much like Matt, she was dressed up, wearing black dress that hugged her figure and heels of the same color.

Sora was always the mother figure of the group; was always there whenever one of them needed some advice or just someone to talk to. Her compassion and empathy always had an impact on whomever she met. The Digidestined of love was also one of the reasons Matt and Tai used to fight back in the day. Both boys liked her and for the longest time she was leaning towards Tai. Eventually the two dated for a couple of months and in this time they realized they had grown too close, thinking of each other more as siblings than lovers. After they broke up she dated Matt and the two have been happy ever since.

"Kari will tell you guys when we get up to our room. We wouldn't be having this meeting if not for her." Matt raised a brow at his friend's reply. He was saying Kari called this meeting in a way. Figuring he'd get his answers soon enough he followed behind Kari and Tai as he led Sora up the stairs, Mimi and Izzy trailing behind them.

Once inside Tai's apartment the six of them settled down, waiting to hear what Kari had to say. Tai was sitting on the floor, leaning against his couch and soon Mimi Tachikawa, joined him. He noted that she was sitting kind of close, but paid no real attention to it. Mimi was the 17-year-old bearer of the crest of Sincerity. She was a "girly-girl" through and through. Much like Sora, she was kind hearted and compassionate, but unlike her friend she did have a bit of a vain streak. She knew she was beautiful and wasn't afraid to flaunt it. She'd lost some of her innocent side as she grew, but was still quite bubbly and even childish at times.

Mimi was a brunette with sparkling auburn eyes and a dazzling smile. Her hair was long, falling to the small of her back. It was flowing and somewhat wavy. She was wearing a blue shirt and a denim skirt along with white boots. Once Mimi was settled into her seat next to Tai, she leaned her head on his shoulder, immediately getting a reaction out of the boy.

"Mimi?" asked Tai as his sister sat on the couch next to him.

"Yes?" replied the brunette, sounding quite content.

"What are you doing?" Mimi glanced up at him in a way Tai found adorable, though he'd never say such a thing out loud.

"I'm tired. Just lend me your shoulder, okay?"

Tai continued to look at her a moment longer, scrutinizing her actions before shrugging it off and looking to Matt, Sora, and Izzy who had made themselves comfortable opposite himself, Mimi, and Kari. A table separated them.

"So," started 16-year-old Koushirou "Izzy" Izumi, bearer of the crest of knowledge, "What's the big news, Kari?" he asked, pulling out his laptop and turning it on just in case the conversation turned out to be something important or if it involved the digital world. Little did he know it would deal with both on a scale he wouldn't believe. Izzy was the brains of the group. He was very tech savvy and often had solutions to their problems. He was a good kid that tended to get too caught up in computer's sometimes, but the Digidestined found themselves thanking the fact he had this trait more than once in their adventures – now if only he could speak in simpler terms sometimes.

Izzy had grown taller than he was when Armageddemon was defeated, but he still wasn't as tall as Tai and Matt. He was a red head with short hair, black eyes, and a pleasant smile. Izzy was wearing a dark green flannel over an orange shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers.

Sora, who'd previously been amused by Mimi's behavior with the ever oblivious Tai, now focused her attention on the younger of the siblings. She was interested in what was so important too. Not only had the meeting interrupted her date, but Kari had never called a meeting before. Ever. Something must have been up.

"Yeah, what's up?" Following Sora's question, Kari dug into her purse before producing Takuya's D-Tector and placing it on the table. Her friend's reactions were instant. Izzy's eyes grew wide as he snapped up the technology, Matt raised a brow, curious. Sora stared at it, somewhat dumbfounded and Mimi lifted her head from Tai's shoulder in shock.

"Is this a new digivice!?" exclaimed Izzy.

"Is that yours Kari? Tai?" asked Sora, wondering if hers or any of the second generation kids' digivices would be going through a similar change anytime soon.

"It's not mine," replied Tai, "and it's not Kari's either." His friends looked at him in confusion. If it wasn't his or Kari's then that meant…

"There's a new Digidestined," said Matt, his voice low. From there Kari proceeded to retell her story about her morning in the park, the boy, and his lost digivice. Sora found the story to be interesting to say the least and while Izzy had been listening, he'd also managed to hook up the D-Tector to his computer. As Izzy tried to figure out the D-Tector in the only way he knew how the conversation continued.

"So there is a new Digidestined," restated Mimi, leaning her head against Tai's shoulder once more. "I never thought one could be so close without us knowing."

"That's because it shouldn't be possible," Izzy interjected, fervently typing on his computer, trying to get into the D-Tector, "I created a program to keep track of the current and any new Digidestined. It's worldwide so there shouldn't have been any holes. I've got every Digidestined in the world cataloged, but not once has there been one in Shibuya. I've never gotten a single digital signal there."

"Digital signal?" asked Kari. Izzy nodded as he took his eyes away from his laptop. He'd finally gotten into the digivice and was waiting for the information on it to download.

"Yes," he stated, "We all have digital signals. It's a signal that takes form between a Digidestined and their partner Digimon. The signal can be traced back to the digivices and from what I know based on some discussions with Gennai, it has something to do with our ability to make our Digimon digivolve at will." Izzy's friends nodded, kind of getting his explanation. Just as Matt was about to speak up again, a high-pitched noise came from Izzy's laptop. They looked at it and watched as all sorts of colors flashed across the screen before Izzy disconnected Takuya's D-Tector. His laptop's screen went black soon after, some smoke coming from the vent.

"What – what just happened?" asked Sora, concerned. Izzy looked surprised and certainly _not _slightly.

"It… fried my laptop. Whatever is on this digivice was too much for my laptop to handle. This has never happened before." The other Digidestined hadn't thought that could happen. Izzy's laptop had never been unable to handle something before.

"I'm sorry, Izzy," offered Matt, genuine empathy in his voice. Izzy's laptop was his favorite piece of tech after his digivice. He knew how the boy must have been feeling; he certainly never wanted to think about what might happen if his guitar ever broke. It had already happened to him once before.

"It's okay," Izzy replied after a lapse of silence. He was still trying to take in the fact that this new digivice had bested his custom laptop. "I have a back up at home… and all the data on the laptop is safely stored at home too…" he trailed off, looking up at Kari soon after. "Kari, we need to get in contact with that boy."

"You said he has your phone, right?" asked Mimi. Kari nodded.

"Call him up, Tai," Interjected Sora. This new Digidestined was becoming more interesting by the minute. Nodding, Tai pulled his own iPhone from his pocket and dialed up Kari's number. He put it on speaker and after a bit of ringing he received an answer.

"Hello…?" came the boy's voice from the other line.

"Hey," said Tai, "You have my sister's phone…" The other line was nearly silent for a bit. The six Digidestined could hear some soft talking in the background, but nothing of substance before the boy's voice came back.

"Yeah… and you have my – um… video game," replied Takuya weakly. Tai looked to his friends at the boy's lie.

"He's trying to keep what it is a secret," whispered Kari, "it's understandable. He doesn't know we're Digidestined."

"Just go along with it for now, Tai. It's best we don't confront him about it until we're face to face," added Mimi, her voice as soft as Kari's. She figured that if they told the boy they knew about Digimon while over the phone it might scare him off. It would be much more of a problem to get in touch with him if that happened. Tai nodded.

"Yeah… My name is Tai Kamiya, yours?"

"Takuya," replied the warrior of flame, "Takuya Kanbara… so… when do you want to meet up to exchange?" Tai looked to his friends for advice. Matt held up two fingers. Tai understood it to mean two days. Sounded good in his opinion; it would give them plenty of time to fill in the others and to maybe ask Gennai some questions.

"How about two days from now? Meet my sister and I at this park in Odaiba," replied Tai, giving Takuya the directions. Takuya's confirmation came shortly after so with some quick goodbye's they hung up. The six of them sat there in silence once more before Izzy spoke up.

"I'll get in touch with Gennai and ask him about the new Digidestined," said Izzy, asking to use Tai's computer. He'd made sure to install the program allowing him to contact Gennai into everyone's computers. Until now, Izzy never thought he'd need it, but he was certainly happy he'd been prepared.

The red head walked into Tai's room and got to business. It didn't take long for the old man to appear on the screen, but something was off. He seemed flustered.

"Hey, Gennai. I need to ask you some questions," said Izzy.

"I'm sorry, Izzy, but you must contact me later."

"Why? Is something wrong?" inquired the computer genius, now worried.

"I do not yet know," answered Gennai. "I shall contact you if something comes up. For now, I must tend to a guest." With that, Gennai cut the video feed short. Izzy frowned at the old man's words. He hoped nothing was wrong. Getting up, he turned to leave Tai's room. He had to tell them about Gennai's situation.

* * *

Gennai frowned after the call with Izzy. He didn't want to end his call with the young Digidestined, but he had a injured Digimon to attend to. The old man walked over to the bed of leaves in his garden that he'd made in haste. Lying on it was a very attractive female Digimon. Laid out on the ground was a slim Digimon with an almost white, golden, armor-like substance covering their face except her mouth. The armor bloomed into a transparent, peach colored crown at the top and pink hair flowed from her head to her butt. Her eyes were of pink color. A green cloth resembling plant life went from her chin to the base of her neck. It stopped there and returned around her breast, keeping them unexposed. The same plant like cloth was on her hips and moved downward keeping her lower body decent.

On the Digimon's shoulders were purple flowers atop black leaves. On her arms from the elbow down was the same armor-like substance that guarded her face in the shape of armguards. Her delicate looking green clothed hands peeking out from beneath the guards. The same substance was also on her legs from the knees down, taking the shape of a bird's talons at the feet. From the base of her neck and from her shoulders fell vines adorned with small purple flowers.

Gennai knew who this Digimon was, but he certainly hadn't expected to see her. Lying before him was Ceresmon Medium. It was rare that the digimon who was known worldwide as one of the famed members of the Olympus XII ever left the sanctuary of her much larger birdlike form, Ceresmon and even if it was commonplace, she shouldn't be here anyway. The Olympus XII went down in history as great heroes, sacrificing themselves in order to seal away the evils of Plutomon and the God Killer, Titamon.

If she was here, it probably meant something gravely wrong had occurred and that the seal may be broken. Only a few hours ago, Gennai had been enjoying a peaceful day, sipping his tea. He hadn't expected for a gravely injured Ceresmon to stumble into his garden. She'd been battered and bruised, her armor riddled with cracks and it had only started to return to its usual unblemished state. She'd only had enough strength to request his help before she collapsed and she hadn't woken up since.

All sorts of questions were running through Gennai's mind now. What had happened to her? How did she find him? More importantly, how did she even know he existed? By the time he was born into the digital world, Ceresmon and her companions were already seen as ancient warriors of legend. There was no way she should know about him. He wanted to know what was going on.

"Ugh…" the feminine groan brought him from his thoughts. Gennai knew now that his questions could soon be answered.

"Ceresmon? Can you speak?" he asked softly. The Olympian Digimon nodded slowly as she made to sit up. Gennai helped her and once she was upright, she offered the old man a smile for his help.

"Thank… you…" she said weakly. Gennai only smiled, honored that he could help such a warrior.

"What happened, Ceresmon…?" asked Gennai. He didn't want to rush her, but he needed to know everything as soon as possible so he could hopefully contact the Digidestined and have them assist in her problem. Ceresmon looked to him, her smile shifting into a frown as she balled her fists in anger.

"Plutomon," she replied. From there she told Gennai a tale that had started thousands of years before the old man's time.

* * *

To Be Continued…


	3. Olympus Falls: Part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon in any form. All characters and Digimon of this story are owned by their respective owners. No copy right infringement intended.**

**AN: **Sorry it took so long to update. College is hectic. Aside from that I've been playing a bit more Elsword than usual, the newest character finally came out for the MMO so I couldn't help testing her out and man is she good. Any of you guys play? Anyway, updating took far too long (in my opinion) and I'll try to make sure the next update isn't as far apart. Now, moving on to some reviews that I feel may need to be addressed publicly.

First, to SilverIcy – They brought up something I forgot to put into chapter 1. Kari is 15 and I just went back and edited along with the release of this chapter. As for their other question, I hope this chapter answers it.

To my guest will – I like Greco/Roman mythology, but I haven't dived into it, per se. If you have any good suggestions on myths to incorporate (if anyone has any for that matter) I'd love to hear them. In addition, now you know why Plutomon went bad.

Enough with that though, don't wanna raise word count too high. Well, on with the show.

**Olympus Falls: Part 1**

"This began long ago with the death of Junomon, one of my companions in the Olympus-XII; she was attacked by the Titamon. At the time, there were five of them. Seeking vengeance, Marsmon sought out the help of Plutomon. Back then, Plutomon was a darkness that hunted darkness. He stayed in the shadows to defend the Digital World," Ceresmon paused, taking a moment to catch her breath. Gennai understood; just by looking at her, he could see that she had suffered through quite the assault.

"Unfortunately, this event began Plutomon's spiral into madness. Venusmon, Merukimon, and I accompanied Marsmon and Plutomon when they made their assault against the five Titamon. We thought that the five of us could handle all of them, and for a time we did – that was until Plutomon defeated the penultimate Titamon. It carried within it a virus – a virus that drove Plutomon insane," she said, "From that moment, Plutomon turned on us, deciding to fight alongside the last Titamon, the strongest and most feared of them, the one who'd killed Junomon: Titamon, The God Killer."

Gennai frowned. It was not unheard of for Digimon to come into contact with some sort of virus, but it was rare that such strong mega levels such as Plutomon succumbed to them – and so quickly at that. Having such an enemy must have been a very grave problem for Ceresmon and her companions.

"We sent Merukimon to call upon aid from the other Olympus-XII, as he was the fastest. Upon his return, we were able to force Plutomon and Titamon back with everyone's help. That Titamon was far stronger than the others we had fought before him, being able to handle us despite his lack of help and with Plutomon at his side, the two were far more than just a force to be reckoned with. Following that battle we clashed with the two of them many more times over the years until finally, we were able to seal them away. We did not want whatever infected Plutomon spreading and since trying to divide our energy between sealing away Plutomon and deleting Titamon was impossible, we focused on sealing them both. Sacrificing ourselves and becoming the locks of the seal, we did just that. We were supposed to stay that way forever, but then something happened. This is when everything that led to me being here began…"

Ceresmon retold her story to Gennai. She remembered the events clearly. It all started on that day. The day Lucemon was defeated by the Legendary Warriors.

* * *

Ceresmon watched Lucemon's destruction. She wondered what was going on. The haze in her mind was clearing, but she noted that everything around her was pitch black; she couldn't see a thing. Ceresmon realized something then – she was thinking. She remembered her and the other members of the Olympus-XII sacrificing themselves to seal away Plutomon and Titamon. After that she'd been void of thought and hadn't seen, felt, or heard anything since.

Ceresmon wasn't sure how much time had passed since then, but she was sure of one thing. If she could think now, then the seal was weakening. From then on, Ceresmon watched as Lucemon shifted forms, changing into his Shadowlord Mode. She couldn't understand how she was seeing this. It was as if the images were being forced into her mind.

She watched as Susanoomon changed into five children, she watched as Lucemon knocked them away and made its way to the human world, she watched as the children, once again becoming Susanoomon, found Lucemon's true form. She watched as Susanoomon expelled the children from its body and defeated Lucemon, once and for all. Ceresmon watched, and watched, and watched from then on. Year after year, century after century, millennium after millennium; she saw the digital world change and face peril countless times. She worried for it and wished to help, but knew her return would only bring greater disaster.

Many a millennium had passed since she watched the five children defeat Lucemon and the seal had been steadily weakening since then for reasons she did not know. Ceresmon could feel now, though the sensation had never changed; she never felt anything more than cool stone against her skin. She still couldn't see anything more than darkness, but she could hear. Ceresmon heard the wind around her the most. She heard rain sometimes and thunder too, but such things were rare. As it was, she was just waiting for the seal to break, which is not actually something she wanted. After all, if the seal broke, Plutomon and Titamon would be free.

* * *

Ceresmon watched on as a few of her companions fought Plutomon. The seal had broken enough to free him some time ago. She couldn't remember how long it had been now. They'd been fighting for years. Even so, she couldn't help.

The seal that she and the other members of the Olympus-XII used to trap Plutomon and Titamon had two layers. The first layer, which sealed Plutomon consisted of Marsmon, Vulcanusmon, Dianamon, Bacchusmon, and Venusmon. The second layer, sealing Titamon, was made up of Merukimon, Neptunemon, Ceresmon, Apollomon, Mervamon, and Jupitermon. They'd set it up so that both Digimon couldn't be released at the same time. That being the case, Ceresmon could once again, only watch.

Bacchusmon had been deleted a few years ago. He was the first, and so far, the only one to go down. Currently, the dark mega level was holding his own against the four remaining Olympus-XII members. This was something that didn't make sense to her. Plutomon was strong; he had power to rival Jupitermon, but even the gold clad leader of the Olympus-XII couldn't hold his own against five of his members, let alone kill one of them. Ceresmon just didn't understand. How had he gained such a large boost in power?

Ceresmon continued to watch as Plutomon streaked through the blackened sky atop Mount Olympus. He dodged the stream of fireballs being spat at him from Vulcanusmon. Plutomon's blood red eyes glowed, making them stand out amongst his dark armor. Plutomon was a slim digimon dressed in black armor with gold trim. His shoulder was adorned with two dog heads, reminiscent of its time as Cerberumon. Golden horns sat atop its head and its black chain like tail lashed about behind him, coming to a dangerous point. Flowing behind him was a tattered looking red cape.

Ceresmon felt a grim fear creep into her heart as Plutomon finally decided to stop running as he dodged another fireball, the rain falling around them not reducing its heat or size in the slightest. In an impressive display of speed, one she could only compare to Merukimon, Plutomon seemed to vanish from view, appearing on the ground moments later, breaking apart the earth on impact. A chunk of earth broke apart next to him, the gauntlet covered fist of Marsmon closing in on his head, adorned in flames.

Marsmon's upper body was covered in red spandex, and his pants were leopard print. He wore red and silver boots, a black and red cape, purple on the inside, and red and silver gauntlets that seemed to radiate flames. His jaw was that of a man, but the rest of his face resembled a panther with a red horn on its head.

In response to the assault, Plutomon broke apart into shadows, surrounding Marsmon before converging on him. A strangled yell escaped Marsmon's throat before he crumpled to the ground. Plutomon reformed next to him.

"**Shadow Blitzkrieg**."

Ceresmon felt herself growling at Marsmon's fall, she wanted so badly to go and retaliate, but seeing as she could not, she would have to watch Dianamon and Vulcanusmon do it for her. Upon knocking out Marsmon, Dianamon dashed at Plutomon, twirling her blue and white, twin edged scythe in her hand. Covered in white and blue armor, Dianamon had two crescent moons protruding from her shoulders. On her back were quill like protuberances. Two blue ears stood atop her head, reminiscent of a rabbit, around her neck was a long pink scarf. Attached two Dianamon's legs were two more crescents, but they were different. On these crescents were two faces. They had their eyes closed, as if sleeping. They were known as the "Goodnight Sisters."

The scythe passed over Plutomon's head as he dodged, spinning around to deliver a roundhouse kick to her midsection. Dianamon took the blow and flipped over him, showing her acrobatics as the scythe bared down on him. A pale grey light covered Plutomon's form, protecting him from Dianamon's attack. Ceresmon couldn't place what the light was. She couldn't feel anything from it; nothing holy. Nothing tainted. It was just neutral – void of anything and everything, but that in and of itself felt so very _wrong _to her. She found herself wondering once more. Wondering where he'd gotten such a power.

Dianamon back flipped away from Plutomon. He'd performed another Shadow Blitzkrieg and she'd barely made it away. Landing on her feet a good length away from him, she pulled from her back a faintly sparkling arrow of ice and aimed at Plutomon.

"**Arrow of Artemis**!" She fired the arrow and repeated the attack, sending a hail of icy arrows at Plutomon. Darkness coursed around the shadow Digimon's hands before he brought them together and unleashed three large, static-like, shadow Cerberus' from his hands.

"**Phantom Howling**!" The two attacks met in between them, clashing and fighting for dominance before they exploded, engulfing everyone in a thick smoke cloud. Dianamon squinted, trying to see her enemy. As she watched for him, Plutomon seemed to appear out of nowhere over Vulcanusmon's head, bringing his foot down on Vulcanusmon's glass helmet. A crack appeared and the mega level digimon immediately replied, swinging his eight arms at him, a weapon in each hand.

Vulcanusmon was an eight armed digimon. His body was red and a baggy fabric (which was also red) served as clothing for his lower body. On his waist was a brown belt, holding tools he used to craft. Inside the dome shaped glass helmet was Vulcanusmon's head. He had red hair, one visible orange eye, the rest of his face being covered in bandages, and his mouth was connected to a contraption that led to the long red barrel protruding from the outside of the glass helmet.

Plutomon tilted his head to avoid a stab from Vulcanusmon's sword before ducking beneath a swipe from his hammer. Dropping to his knees, he swept Vulcanusmon off his feet, where the Godly mega tossed one of its swords at Plutomon. The shadow digimon swayed out of the way as Vulcanusmon used his now free hand to brace his fall. From the ground he looked up at Plutomon as a flame radiated from Vulcanusmon's barrel.

"**Bomber Art**!" A stream of flames spewed from the barrel, licking at Plutomon's armor. The black clad warrior jumped away from him as Vulcanusmon poured on the flames as the changed from a stream to a barrage of flaming bullets. Growling to himself, Plutomon pressed on, dodging the fireballs, and bringing his fist clad in darkness to Vulcanusmon's gut. The mega's flames ceased, his coughing taking over as he fell to one knee.

"Vulcanusmon," boomed Plutomon, his voice was deep and eerie. It held darkness in it that the other mega nearly cringed at. Not in fear, no. it was something else, he knew that. He did not fear Plutomon, but it was something he could not place. "Thou art weak. Did yee think your weapons could best me? Thou art hailed as the greatest blacksmith the digital world has ever known… yet all I see is a weakling hiding behind weapons in hopes that they make him stronger… Be gone! **Hell-**"

Before Plutomon could call out his attack, the sharp edge of Dianamon's twin scythe dug into his arm. Hissing in pain, he backed away from the two of them as the smoke began to clear. Dianamon was lucky enough to see the bright flames of Vulcanusmon's Bomber Art in the distance. If she hadn't, Plutomon would have deleted him.

"Art thou well, Vulcanusmon?" Inquired Dianamon as she kneeled beside him, never removing her eyes from Plutomon. The wound she'd inflicted was healing quickly – too quickly. She did not remember him being able to heal so quickly before.

Dianamon had no idea what else he had up his sleeve and because of that she didn't want to face him alone. Thankfully, she knew Marsmon would wake up soon. The digital embodiment of war was never one to stay down long. She hoped that with him and Vulcanusmon, the three of them could come up with a plan to defeat him – now all she had to do was stall until her friend awoke.

"I am fine, Dianamon. I thank thee," replied the eight armed mega. Dianamon nodded and whispered her intentions to Vulcanusmon. With a nod, he stood to his feet, glancing at Venusmon who was near seven statues. She was focusing all her energy on the largest statue, a statue of Titamon. She was caressing Titamon's face and had her companion, a dove by the name of Olive, continuously prick Titamon's head with its beak. In all honesty, Vulcanusmon thought the small dove resembled a woodpecker more than anything right now.

Venusmon was a drop dead gorgeous digimon. Before the Olympus-XII were sealed, every digimon they'd ever come into contact with loved her – even the bad ones. Resembling a human more than a digimon, Venusmon was adorned in an all white dress. It covered the front of her body well, but not so much could be said for the back. Venusmon had long blonde tresses that dropped to her ankles. Most of her locks seemed to be in one large curl. She had a long bang on either side of her face, white ribbon was wrapped around her hair. On her neck wrested a ruby a golden necklace with a ruby stone and on her face cloth covered her eyes; she saw with her mind's eye. She wore a pair of white boots. Always accompanying Venusmon were her two most loyal friends, Olive and Hotan, her scallop.

Venusmon was the digital embodiment of love and as such, her fighting style incorporated ways to soothe her enemies. Venusmon was doing just that right now. Unfortunately, that meant she couldn't help fight Plutomon. If she stopped focusing on Titamon, the odds of the God Killer awakening were high – higher than any of them wished.

Accepting the fact that he could expect no help from Venusmon, Vulcanusmon focused his attention on the dark mega once more. For now it would only be him and Dianamon.

"Art thou ready, Vulcanusmon?" she asked, gripping her twin headed scythe tighter. Vulcanusmon only nodded in response and the two of them took off, shooting toward Plutomon as quickly as they could. Plutomon replied in kind. The two met abruptly, one of Vulcanusmon's many arms tearing through the air towards Plutomon's abdomen. The dark digimon blocked with his tail, tearing into the flesh of Vulcanusmon's fist.

Wincing, Vulcanusmon jumped away, avoiding Plutomon's clawed hands. Dianamon, dashed in from behind Vulcanusmon, her scythe meeting Plutomon's claws. Their clash ended in a stalemate. Neither of them could push their assault so instead, Plutomon's tail whipped around scything toward Dianamon's head. Without batting an eyelash, she twirled her scythe, knocking the tip of his tail into the rocky ground beneath them. The tail dug into the ground and Plutomon's hand was knocked aside.

Twirling her scythe again, she aimed for Plutomon's neck. The weapon cut through the air and Dianamon would have smiled if she didn't know better. There was no way this was enough to end him. Almost as if Plutomon could read her thoughts, He burst into shadows and surrounded her; another Shadow Blitzkrieg.

Just as he converged on her, Dianamon twirled her scythe around her body at alarming speed, keeping Plutomon's shadow form away. When Plutomon reformed some feet away from her, Dianamon threw her scythe at him. He bent back, dodging the attack before the scythe whipped around, returning to her thanks to the fact she'd wrapped the handle in her pink scarf. Plutomon's red eyes gazed at her impassively as the scythe returned. He'd have to be careful of that; the scarf was far longer than he'd expected.

"**Arrow of Artemis**!"

Plutomon's eyes widened at Dianamon's attack. _This _is what she'd truly been aiming for. He was in no position to dodge and his shielding technique was something he'd doubted would work against such a concentrated attack. With that in mind his tail moved to intercept.

"**Gehenna Claw**!"

Plutomon's tail, now covered in an aura of darkness and shadow slashed down, obliterating Dianamon's arrow.

"Vulcanusmon!"

"I shall melt thy body into a new weapon, Plutomon. **Bomber Art**!" Plutomon looked up as flames spewed from Vulcanusmon's barrel. They streaked towards him and with Dianamon at the ready, his barrier would not help him. They had been fighting for years and not once had they had him on the ropes. He knew he would not walk away from this uninjured. Unless…

"**Flaming Break**!"

Something had jumped into the path of Bomber Art and a pillar of fire leapt up right after, canceling out Vulcanusmon's attack. When the flames died down Dianamon's brows furrowed, her eyes narrowed in anger. She knew who the attack belonged to – she knew, but this was absolutely ludicrous! He'd been fighting alongside her only moments ago in an effort to defeat Plutomon.

"Marsmon!" yelled Dianamon, grabbing the war digimon's attention. Marsmon turned to her as Vulcanusmon landed and Plutomon righted himself. Marsmon stared at her. His eyes seemed much harder than before – and much colder. They were devoid of something. Dianamon couldn't place it; it was a certain spark, that's all she could call it, but it was gone now.

"What?"

"Yee dare betray Jupitermon?!" she barked, her grip on her twin head scythe tightening once more. Marsmon simply shrugged, seemingly indifferent to what she was accusing him of. Dianamon did not understand. He had been her companion only moments ago. What could have happened to him? She glared at Plutomon; it was his fault. He'd done something to Marsmon – something during his attack.

Plutomon chuckled; his _gift _to Marsmon had been received. Now there was only one more thing he had to do. In another burst of speed, Plutomon flew across the ground to Venusmon. She was so preoccupied she didn't notice him until he was right on top of her. Dianamon had tried to help, but Marsmon intercepted her and Vulcanusmon was too slow to keep up with Plutomon's speed. The two could only watch as Venusmon turned to Plutomon in surprise as his tail came around.

"**Gehenna Claw**!" The tail flew forward.

"**LOVE YOU**!" Venusmon blew him a kiss.

The two attacks met in the middle and exploded in a shockwave of power. Venusmon and Plutomon were knocked away, skidding and rolling across the rock surface of the mountain. Vulcanusmon made it over to Venusmon and helped her to her knees. She had scratches all over her previously unblemished body. She looked to Olive and screamed.

"No!"

Vulcanusmon followed her gaze and saw why she'd screamed. Without her to keep Titamon's dreadful aura in check, the statue, his seal – it was breaking. Olive was not enough to hold the sealed digimon back so the small bird tried futilely to keep it in check – as expected, it was not working. Plutomon's eyes lit up and the remaining loyal members of the Olympus-XII looked on in despair as the statue exploded outward knocking Olive away; smoke clouded the area. A large sword made from the bones of a Greymon tore through the smoke as a guttural roar ripped through the air. It crawled over their skin and gave them Goosebumps.

From the smoke came a digimon of titanic size. He stood above the members of the Olympus-XII and had Titamon been any larger, he might not have fit on the mountain. His body was a light green, covered by dark green, red, and golden armor. On Titamon's arms was a shadow like mist billowing outward and within those shadows were the skulls of every digimon he had slain – even Junomon's. His head held four curved horns that rose into the air above him, white hair coming from his helm. In Titamon's right hand was his gigantic sword, forged in rage and hatred with the use of a Greymon's skull – the Zanjintou – literally meaning "Beheading God Sword."

"Welcome back, Titamon," greeted Plutomon. Titamon merely shifted his gaze to him, its blood red eyes scanning the dark mega. Growling in response he looked away from Plutomon, his gaze now shifting to Venusmon. Titamon's thoughts darkened.

_That wench dare use her vile powers to keep me sealed? My rage is insatiable. She would never be able to soothe me. I am Hatred! I shall rip her innards from her body, break all her bones, and then crush her DigiCore in_ _my hands before adding her skull to my collection_, thought the titanic mega.

In a startling show of speed, the titan lifted his blade. If they had not fought him before, the Olympus-XII would have never suspected something so massive would be so fast – but this did not mean they had been prepared. Venusmon hadn't had time to get to her feet and there would be no way for her to dodge.

"**Konpaku Shingeki**."

Titamon brought the sword down and it would have hit its mark had Venusmon and Vulcanusmon not vanished; a burst of wind and a sonic boom followed in their wake. Standing far to the left of Titamon was the fastest member of the Olympus-XII, the fastest digimon in the digital world: Merukimon. Merukimon was a green digimon, covered head to toe in fabric-like armor of green and brown. His head was modeled after a wolf, and within the open maw was the jaw of a man. Merukimon's hair was long and light green. In his right hand, Merukimon held his favorite knife, Aztec.

"It was favorable that I made it in time, had that hit either of you, we all know how it would have ended," spoke Merukimon, smiling as he crossed his arms. His two companions nodded, knowing full well what would have happened. Titamon's attack could allow his sword to pass through any digimon undeterred. From there it could directly tear apart their DigiCore, ending their life without effort. Taking that attack head on was suicide.

Titamon growled and moved toward them again until something, a shadow, passed over him. Overhead was the massive, winged form of Ceresmon in bird form. Made or earth and plant life, it held the forest of Karpos Hule on its back, which bared the greatest fruit of the digital world. Positioned comfortably on the head of the giant bird was its true form, the thing keeping the large bird together: Ceresmon Medium. Now that she was free, Ceresmon intended to make sure no more of her companions fell in battle.

"Your time is over, Plutomon, Titamon. You two shall fall today! Even if we must fall with you," seethed Ceresmon. She was bitter over Bacchusmon's death and wanted revenge. The two of them were the best of friends. He often used the fruits from her Karpos Hule to make the finest wines the digital world knew.

"I think not," spoke Plutomon, shaking his head before waving his hands. "**Absolute Darkness**."

From his palms, a tidal wave a dark energy flowed out, crashing onto the ground like pitch black water and moving towards the members of the Olympus-XII far too quickly for most of them to react to. Dianamon and Marsmon who had resumed battle behind him after she tried to take him out once more were unaffected by the wave, Merukimon was too fast for the wave to reach, but in his efforts to save his companions with his speed he too, was taken by it. Ceresmon was already airborne, unaffected by the attack and Titamon who had somehow understood what was happening avoided it with a jump. Everyone else was taken.

The darkness coiled around them, cold and uninviting. It took away their fighting spirit. The Olympus-XII could no longer fight back. Ceresmon glared at the mega once more.

"Plutomon!" roared Ceresmon, her giant form flying towards him, the angered screech of the massive bird flooding the air with sound.

* * *

Ceresmon stopped her tale here. She needed to catch her breath and she could feel something nearing them. It felt familiar and right now, she wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"Ceresmon, are you okay?" asked Gennai. Ceresmon nodded, taking a few breathes.

"I am fine. Just – I need to catch my breath… and – and I feel something." Just then, a flaming mass crashed into Gennai's garden, kicking up chunks of earth and showering dirt on the injured Ceresmon and Gennai.

"You have run far enough, Ceresmon. Your time has come," came an oh-so-familiar voice from the dust.

* * *

To Be Continued…

Some Translations

Konpaku Shingeki: Lit. Soul Core Attack

Karpos Hule: Lit. Fruit Forest


	4. A Meeting at the Park

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon in any form. All characters and Digimon of this story are owned by their respective owners. No copy right infringement intended.**

**AN: **So, happy to say this one came faster than the previous chapter. I was hit with inspiration after finishing up chapter 3 and couldn't wait to type this out and post it. Oddly enough, I thought this would be the longest chapter yet, but turned out being the shortest. It's fine that way though, I couldn't help but end it there. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy! Oh! Leave reviews please? Always appreciated.

Well, on with the show.

**A Meeting at the Park**

T.K. opened his eyes with a groan. He was stuck beneath a fallen tree and some chunks of earth. He wasn't in pain and he could feel all his limbs. T.K. was lucky to have survived nearly being crushed. Patamon was flying overhead, the small orange and white digimon that flew with its ears was in a state of euphoria to see that his partner had finally woken up. T.K. looked around after giving Patamon a reassuring smile; seeing the sun setting in the distance, he frowned.

_How much time has passed? _He wondered, groggily.

"T.K." came the high pitched voice of Patamon. T.K. groaned.

"Yeah…?"

"Do you think you can make me digivolve like that? So I can help get all that off?"

T.K. felt around for his digivice, hoping it wasn't far away since he couldn't move his arms very far. All the while he was wondering what _exactly _had happened. One moment he was looking for Davis and Ken – and the next, everything went to hell.

* * *

Takuya sighed as he, Zoe, and Koji boarded a train to Odaiba. He'd just gotten through with his Soccer practice and now he was severely nervous. He didn't really think the people he was about to meet knew about his D-Tector, but he couldn't calm down. It didn't help that the sun would be setting soon. Takuya wasn't afraid of the dark or anything. That was impossible, especially considering all the time he spent in the digital world, but he wasn't a stranger to the whole "hide in the dark then ambush" tactic. That was one of the reasons he brought Koji and Zoe with him.

While Zoe used to be the weakest member on the team, after taking up martial arts, she proved to be stronger than even Koichi. This bumped her up to being second strongest, right beneath Takuya and Koji who shared the title of strongest. He trusted her with his life in a fight, so just in case things went downhill, he knew the two of them would have his back. The other reason he brought the two of them was simple – mental support. They were his closest friends, almost like family (though he'd never admit such a thing to Koji. The light warrior would never let him live it down).

As for the other members of their team, Koichi stayed home; he wanted to spend some time with his mother that day. Aside from that, depending on how late his brother was out with Takuya and Zoe, he needed to be able to give him an alibi. J.P. said he had a project he needed to work on for a class tomorrow. It was important for his grade so he couldn't come with them. As for Tommy – well – that was obvious. There was no way his parents were letting him go to Odaiba with Takuya and company.

"It's going to be fine, Taku," said Zoe, hoping to reassure her usually fiery leader. He'd been so worried and stressed for the past two days. "They'll be oblivious to all things digimon, we'll make the swap, go home, and then keep working on a way to get in contact with Lady Ophanimon," smiled Zoe. Takuya immediately jumped into a rant of what ifs. The one he was worried about most being a scenario where Lady Ophanimon needed their help and contacted him. She would be met with fearful and confused humans she did not know, leading to her defeat and or the destruction of the digital world since she hadn't made contact with him. To top it all off, the people Takuya would meet would rat him out to the government or something.

Zoe had sat there and listened to his ranting and gave him a funny look when he was finished. She was clearly beginning to question his sanity – and he knew it.

"Shut up, you baby," interjected Koji. The ever stoic warrior of light was still looking out the window of the speeding train in boredom. He wished he was riding a Trailmon. Not that he would say he found the scenery of the digital world any more interesting than that of the real world (which he did, for the record), but because, at the very least, it would mean he was in the digital world and that was something he definitely wanted.

Takuya glared at his best friend and was about to retort when Zoe put a calming hand on his shoulder. From there she explained how impossible his theory was. If Ophanimon revealed herself to other humans through his D-Tector, he could pass it off as part of the game. Furthermore, it's not like he was the only warrior on earth. She could get in touch with the six of them by contacting any of them, not just him. Zoe swears Takuya forgets that sometimes.

"Really, Taku. Your imagination is far too overactive…"

Takuya laughed awkwardly and scratched his head. When he thought about it again, he really had been over reacting. There was no way what he thought could happen. Besides, Lady Ophanimon was strong. She'd only grown in strength since Lucemon's defeat as well. Who could possibly defeat her? With such thoughts occupying his mind, Takuya began to calm and the rest of the train ride passed in casual conversation.

* * *

Kari, Tai, Mimi, and Izzy were waiting at the park for Takuya to arrive. After they'd all gathered at Tai's place a little earlier that day, they called up the other Digidestined. Now the remaining members of their team were "hiding" in plain sight at the park. They were all close enough to see the meeting, but far off enough not to be noticed – at least that's what they all hoped.

The only people not present were Davis, Ken, and T.K. Shortly after Izzy had ended his talk with Gennai the other day, he informed Tai of what happened. Tai, who'd become more cautious in his years as a leader sent Davis and Ken to check up on Gennai two days ago – they hadn't returned. Still, the two of them hadn't called in to report a problem so Tai assumed they were fine. Just in case though, he'd sent T.K. to make sure everything was alright yesterday night. Now that T.K. hadn't called in either, he was concerned, but believed it was best to wait until the meeting with the new Digidestined was over. At least then, they might have a new friend to help them search for their companions and or fight whatever was keeping them.

"I'm so excited," squealed Mimi from her spot on Tai's right. The beautiful brunette was beaming. Tai smiled at her. She was always so happy and it often brightened his mood as well.

"Yeah," he said, "this could be a really great day, y'know?"

Mimi nodded and Kari did the same. She was pretty excited too, but she didn't want to bring attention to herself right now. Her brother was overprotective and she really didn't want him mixing up her reason for being excited with the boy himself and not his status as a Digidestined. She didn't think anyone could make such an assumption, but she learned long ago never to underestimate her brother's protectiveness of her and what it could make him think – or do. Besides, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't interested in seeing him – he was very handsome. Who doesn't like a little eye candy?

"I hope he is interested in computers. Hopefully he knows a thing or two about his digivices programming. I would love to jump into a conversation about it. It is so fascinating," piped in Izzy as he continued to type something or other on his laptop. According to him, he'd been updating and improving it since his main one got fried the other day. He didn't want it to happen again so he was putting his all into making this one even more high end than the last.

Tai chuckled at Izzy's hopes – not that he found them funny in the bad way, but he kind of doubted the kid was a computer genius. He just didn't sound that way over the phone – not that Izzy would notice. His tech obsessed friend had gotten better at reading people and getting to know them, but he was by no means perfect at it.

"This will definitely be interesting," said Tai.

* * *

Takuya took a deep breath as he looked at the entrance to the park.

_This is it_, he thought. The train ride had ended just a little bit ago and he really wished it had been longer. It wasn't exactly short, but it was far shorter than he'd hoped. His nervousness was starting to come back and Zoe was already giving him a calming smile. It seems the wind warrior had predicted something like this.

"Want me to hold your hand, Taku?" giggled Zoe, jokingly. She was hoping to ease his anxiety with a bit of humor. Takuya looked at her, anxiousness apparent in his gaze.

"I honestly don't think it would be too bad right about now," he replied, seriously. Zoe blinked, smothering a laugh soon after. Shaking her head, she simply patted his shoulder.

"Stop being silly, Taku. Come on, let's go," she replied, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along. He followed reluctantly and Koji brought up the rear, smirking at his friends discomfort. Takuya was way off today; if he didn't think it would make the situation with retrieving his friends D-Tector worse, he'd be poking fun at him in the way he knew best.

As the three of them walked deeper into the park, they chatted a bit. It revolved around trivial things: What they'd be having for dinner later tonight, Takuya's next soccer game, Koji's budding relationship with his mother, and Zoe's intentions to take a trip to America for the summer. The three quickly found themselves at the meeting place and they might not have noticed if a feminine voice hadn't called out to their fiery leader.

"Takuya?"

Takuya blinked, taking in his surroundings again and remembering what they were here for. His anxiety flared in his gut, but when Zoe squeezed his hand he calmed. Takuya was glad to have her around. She could be a pretty great sister when she wanted to be. She almost tried to act like an older one, but there were times when she would do something that prevented him from thinking of her as such – that and the fact they were the same age.

Takuya turned to the voice and saw the girl from the park. He noted she was wearing blue jeans instead of a skirt today and her clothing seemed to be a little different. Aside from that he found her to be the same – yet refreshing, probably because she was someone he didn't know (such as his friends) and _really _pretty.

"Uh – hey," stammered Takuya, offering a smile as he scanned the surrounding area. Behind her were two boys and a girl. The taller looking boy, with brown hair, he assumed was her brother. As for the other two he didn't know who they were – nor was he that concerned. He just wanted his D-Tector back. Aside from them he just saw a few people around their age chatting here and there.

"I'm Hikari Kamiya," said the girl. Takuya nodded, giving his name again even though he knew she knew it. "Would you like to sit down?" asked Kari politely, motioning towards some tables. Takuya was about to agree when he got the nagging feeling that he was being watched. He glanced around again, noting this time that all the people around them seemed to be keeping an eye on him.

Takuya wasn't completely sure if they were looking, or if his paranoia was getting to him though. He didn't think the looks he was receiving was anything malicious either. Nonetheless, he didn't like the vibe, but since he wasn't sure about it, he couldn't really voice it. He heard a cough from behind him then. It was a cough from Koji; a warning. Looks like Koji was getting the same vibe as him.

"Not really," replied Takuya. If Koji was getting the same vibe, Takuya knew he wasn't paranoid. "I'd really like to get home, you know? My mom's making some western food today and after soccer practice, I'm really hungry," he said, hoping he gave a good enough reason to get his D-Tector and get gone. "So… think I could get my game back?" he added.

"Bu-" started Kari, hoping to persuade him. She was cut off by the harsh interjection of the boy behind him on his right.

"He said no," growled Koji, "just give us his game so we can leave."

"Koji!" exclaimed Zoe, "That was rude!" she scolded, though she had to admit, she was thinking along the same lines. She too, could feel eyes on them and wanted nothing more than to leave. She was starting to think all of Takuya's worrying had some merit. It was almost ironic; the one time Takuya was more paranoid than Koji and he turns out to be right.

Izzy glanced at Tai to see his leader balling his fists. The tech genius sighed; he wasn't surprised. He couldn't recall anyone getting away with speaking to his sister that way – and Izzy didn't think it would start now. Tai growled and took a step forward.

The chosen child of courage was ready to give the black haired boy a piece of his mind, but before he could speak, Mimi latched onto his arm. Tai stopped, almost falling at the sudden resistance. He looked back to see Mimi's smiling face. The smile she was giving him made him uncomfortable; it was very unsettling and for some reason he knew it would be in his best interest to listen to whatever she might say next.

"Calm down, Tai," she whispered, "You can't recruit any new Digidestined to our cause if you fly off the handle, can you?" Mimi paused here, watching the boy deflate. "I understand your feelings. You don't want anything to happen to Kari, but be calm."

Tai took a deep breath and looked to the sky. He noted it was getting darker now, filling his mind with something aside from the rude boy who'd snapped at his sister. Exhaling loudly, Tai looked back to Mimi and thanked her. Izzy watched the with a smile.

Turning away from his companions, Izzy studied Takuya and his friends closely. He was no genius at human interaction and body language, be he could at least see they were tense. Smart as he was, he had to wonder only briefly as to why before his eyes widened, comprehension washing over him. Now that his leader as calm, Izzy got Tai's attention.

"Tai," he said quietly, so as not to draw any attention, "cut to the chase." Tai raised a brow at his friend for a moment then shrugged. Offering Izzy a nod, he started walking forward, Izzy and Mimi following behind him. He hoped Izzy was right about getting this over with.

Koji's eyes narrowed when he saw Kari's friends approaching. He didn't think getting Takuya's D-Tector back was going to be so easy anymore.

"Let's stop beating around the bush," said Tai, immediately grabbing the attention of the three warriors. He felt them tense up even more and when Koji's hands balled, Tai got the message that he _needed _to take this situation slowly. Holding up his hands to show he meant no harm, Tai continued.

"Whoa there… Just chill; no ill intentions here. We just figured we could cut to the chase." Kari looked at her brother oddly. Takuya's friends were right there after all. If they wanted to talk about Digimon, they needed to get him to talk alone. Tai stood there for a moment, trying to think of the best way to get things out in the open. Izzy was faster than their leader though, and he was far more blunt.

"You three are Digidestined," he said. Mimi, Tai, and Kari snapped to attention. Their eyes fell upon the people with Takuya as they took in Izzy's words. There were three new Digidestined? Not just one? Tai remembered saying this would be interesting earlier – boy was he right.

While the chosen children were processing this information, Takuya and company were confused. They had no idea what this boy was talking about.

"Digi-what now?" asked Takuya. He'd certainly never heard the word before.

"Digidestined," replied Izzy, "Like us. You know about Digimon and you're supposed to defend the worlds." At this, the three warriors understood exactly what was going on. These guys were claiming to be the same as them.

"You – you know about Digimon?" inquired Zoe, slowly. Mimi beamed at her, nodding her head. Koji's response was almost a polar opposite to Zoe's. While he was also happy to find that they weren't the only people to know of Digimon to a degree, his thoughts quickly shifted. He knew there were only ten spirits, all of which should be linked to them unless Lady Ophanimon used the ones that had no human counterparts and gave them to these four. That didn't make sense to Koji though. Why call in a bunch of rookies to receive spirits when she already belonged with them?

"But – why would Lady Ophani-" Koji interrupted Takuya, putting his hand in front of his friend. Takuya looked to him, receiving a shake of the head. Before there could be any further talk or a question as to what Takuya was saying, Koji stepped forward, being ever cautious or "paranoid about everything" as Takuya often said he was.

"How do we know you're trying to protect the worlds?" spat Koji. Though slightly stunned at his accusation, Kari was the first to respond. She retrieved her D-3 from her pocket and showed it to him.

"This is my digivice," she said, "The D-3."

"And this," added Izzy as he retrieved his own digivice, hoping to convince him even more if there was even slight doubt, "is my digivice." Koji's eyes scrutinized the two pieces of tech. He could tell they weren't human made, but as far as he was concerned, that wasn't enough to make him believe they were telling the truth.

"That's not enough for us to believe you're on our side," replied Koji, ever stubborn. Kari frowned and quickly took Takuya's D-Tector from her pocket. When the flaming leader of the warriors saw it, he nearly jumped in excitement.

"Here," said Kari, handing the D-Tector out to Takuya.

"Kari!" shouted Tai. He didn't think it was such a good idea to return it yet if they wouldn't even listen to them. If they gave it back, the three of them had no reason to stay and listen. Kari ignored her brother though and continued.

"Take your digivice, but please, at least listen to us." Takuya stared at the girl before him. She sure was trusting, her show of good faith was something he doubted even he would do. Smiling in response, Takuya took his D-Tector and returned her phone. Turning his head, he told Koji that they should at least listen. His best friend shrugged. He supposed they could at least listen.

Takuya looked to Zoe. She gave him a smile; her agreement. She was much more open to suggestions and the like than Koji, so he didn't think she'd refuse. Besides, Takuya kind of assumed she wouldn't pass up the potential prospect of two new girls who knew about the Digital World. Though she loved her boys, Zoe often complained that they just couldn't understand girl stuff. Even if they turned out to be baddies, she couldn't let this chance pass. Besides, if they tried anything she had no doubt that she, Koji, and Takuya could show them _thoroughly _why they should _never_ mess with them ever again.

"Looks like you've got yourself a deal, Hikari," smiled Takuya. Kari smiled back.

"That's great!" exclaimed Tai, "You guys are good now," he added, raising his voice. Takuya gave him a look until the people that they'd thought were just a bunch of bystanders started to walk towards them. Takuya was tempted to go back on what he'd said for a moment, thinking this was an ambush, but upon catching Kari's eyes he found himself deciding to ride this out. She looked far to earnest to be trying something.

"These are our friends," said Mimi, speaking to the three warriors for the first time, "and they're Digidestined too. We all wanted to meet you when we found out there was a new Digidestined! And now we have!"

Koji raised a brow at the girl's proclamation. He hoped she wasn't as – animated all the time. If so, he knew he'd find himself _very_ annoyed with her _very_ quickly.

"So, let's talk," said Sora.

"It's getting late though," replied Zoe, looking up. She was able to see a few starts now and the moon was becoming more prominent.

"That's fine," said Tai, "we can walk to my place. It's not far from here. You guys can tell your parents you're staying at a friend's house for a while? This is kind of important after all." The warriors hesitated for only a moment before agreeing. They knew that even if this did go bad, the three of them were still more than capable of handling a bunch of people who looked to have no training – well most of them anyway. One of them, a kid around Tommy's age, looked as if he was receiving some sort of training. Still, they weren't concerned.

The 12 of them walked to Tai's house. They chatted about meaningless things on the way. It can't be said that the chosen children didn't try to learn of the Warriors' past experiences, but the three of them were staying pretty tight lipped. The Digidestined could tell they weren't going to be spilling a thing until they thought the Digidestined were trustworthy.

After arriving at Tai's house and getting comfortable despite the lack of space with so many people, Tai and Kari passed out some drinks and snacks. After a little more idle chit-chat, Tai felt it was time to get started. He quieted everyone down and just when he was going to begin, there was a banging in Tai's room.

The leader could only think it was Davis, Ken, and T.K. returning from the Digital World. He was right, but he'd soon realize that he should have sent some of the others to help them long ago. T.K. stumbled into the living room, looking worse for wear. Davis and Ken were slung over his shoulders, unconscious. Their clothes were just as tattered as his were, if not worse.

Those in the room who knew who they were jumped into a triad of questions and got to their feet to make sure they were alright. Takuya and his friends looked on in concern and curiosity.

"What happened to you guys?!" asked Matt, taking Davis off his little brother's shoulders as Tai did the sane for Ken. T.K. quickly sunk to his knees. He looked up to his brother, his eyes almost glazed. Matt could tell his little brother wasn't doing too great and right before T.K. passed out, falling to the floor he tried to speak, trailing off into unconsciousness.

"Mars…"

* * *

To Be Continued…


	5. New Comrades?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon in any form. All characters and Digimon of this story are owned by their respective owners. No copy right infringement intended.**

**AN:** This chapter actually gave me some trouble. Not sure why, but it did. Anyway, it's been a while (in my opinion) since my last update. I was playing a lot of Borderlands 2 lately since I recently got Krieg. Any of you guys play? I'm up for playing if any of you do.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews guys. They were appreciated. Also to will, I have to thank you for the Arukenimon suggestion. It's great and I can see some nice things being done with it; already have some ideas in mind. And to clarify, in chapter 3, Plutomon turned Marsmon, so he is actually on Plutomon's side right now.

Hope to hear from you guys again this chapter. Oh! before it begins, for some reason a few of my scene dividers won't show up, so just a little heads up. Well, on with the show.

**New Comrades?**

Joe, Yolei, and Kari had just finished tending to Ken, T.K., and Davis. The three of them were shaken, especially Yolei. She'd finally gotten her chance to go out with Ken. It had been a around six months since the two had begun their relationship. Seeing her boyfriend so hurt frightened her.

Kari's best female friend, 15 year old, Yolei Inoue hadn't changed all that much since the defeat of Armageddemon. . Yolei is energetic and usually confident, only being embarrassed to admit her true feelings if they didn't live up to her standards for herself (though Ken's been trying to help with that). Yolei is a bit on the geeky side, stubborn, and loud yet she has proven to be sincere time and time again. Though these traits have stayed, she's matured.

Yolei's changes physically were more pronounced than those to her attitude. She'd grown taller, almost as tall as Ken now and she'd traded in her large circular glasses for smaller, more rectangular ones. Her eyes were light brown, almost amber and stood out on her nearly as much as her lavender hair that was still straight, though a little longer. Her figure had filled out more and she was starting to catch the eyes of many boys, much to Ken's frustration. She was clothed in a yellow shirt, a blue denim maxi skirt, and sandals.

Now that the unconscious boys were situated in Tai's room, 20 year old Joe Kido, the Digidestined bearing the crest of Reliability, told everyone the extent of their injuries. They weren't as bad as predicted, but they weren't good either. Joe was the oldest of the original Chosen Children and now he was a college student. He wasn't as study crazy as he used to be, but he could still get out of hand sometimes according to Tai. Joe still worried a lot, but not nearly as much as he used to, partially thanks to his girlfriend, Momoe, who is one of Yolei's older sisters. Now that he was older, Joe was really starting to show why he owned the crest of reliability. He was a vital member of the team.

Joe was tall as ever, and he'd cut his blue hair, somewhat resembling his childhood days when it was spiky. His eyes were black and though he could still be seen with his glasses he wore contacts more often. Currently, the bearer of the crest of reliability was clothed in a very casual white shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

Following Joe's diagnosis of their friends, a moment of silence took hold of the group, Until, surprisingly, Cody Hida spoke up. Cody is 12 and the youngest of the Chosen children. Though still serious and mature beyond his years, he's long since softened about his black and white view of the world and is more prone to having fun than he used to. Cody still sports his bowl cut, keeping his brown hair trimmed. His eyes are a dull shade of green. Currently, they boy is wearing a long sleeved grey shirt, blue jeans, and boots.

"Well," said Cody, "We can't do anything about the three of them right now, so…" he trailed off, sure they understood his meaning. Tai sighed, as concerned as he was, Cody was right.

"We're sorry about your friends," offered Zoe. Sora smiled her way, a thank you.

"They'll be alright," Sora replied, "they're pretty tough." Zoe smiled back, happy to see they had such faith in their friends.

"I guess we should get started," said Tai. Takuya nodded and then the Digidestined relayed their adventures to Takuya and his friends. Kari watched their surprise and assumed it was because they never thought such wild adventures could be possible. In truth, it wasn't the adventure that surprised them; in fact, they thought it to be a standard Digital World adventure. The warriors were surprised by the smaller details of their story – though some weren't exactly small in their opinion.

First, they found it odd that the Digidestined had walked everywhere; they hadn't mentioned the Trailmon once. Did that mean they were gone? The second thing that concerned them was how they fought. They had Digimon partners and couldn't actually transform into one. Of the two, the Chosen Children's way seemed more plausible, but it was very thought provoking for the warriors.

What concerned them most though, was how they never mentioned Lady Ophanimon. According to them, she hadn't called them to the Digital World. It had been a digital human of sorts, known as Gennai, and on a higher level, the protector of the Digital World, Azulongmon. Last they heard, Ophanimon, Seraphimon, and Cherubimon were the protectors of the world.

The only time they had mentioned Seraphimon and Cherubimon was during a brief fight where Cherubimon was infected by a virus and had become Kerpymon. While the three warriors didn't like the implications of the Chosen Children's adventures, they at least understood they weren't a threat. Koji hoped that they'd have a chance to meet this American Digidestined in the future. If one of his Digimon was Cherubimon then he knew that, at some point, they'd need to contact him.

In the meantime, they'd focus on finding Ophanimon and getting on T.K.'s good side, seeing as how Seraphimon was his partner. Of course, all this was on the assumption that the Cherubimon and Seraphimon mentioned by the Chosen Children were the same as the original Digital World protectors. Despite the odds of them being different digimon, this was their best shot right now. This chance brought something else to Koji's mind though. If these partner Digimon were the same as their Seraphimon and Cherubimon, Koji wondered why they'd chosen these kids over the warriors.

Was this their way of saying the warrior's group was no longer fit to protect the digital world? Or had something happened to their spirits? Even if that was the case, why choose new kids over them? Koji frowned to himself. Things just weren't adding up and instead of getting more answers, as he'd hoped, he was only coming up with more questions.

"We understand. You guys aren't bad," said Takuya, smiling. Though Koji often said otherwise, Takuya wasn't an idiot. He could think things through pretty well and he was about to prove it.

"Good," said Tai, "So, where are your Digimon partners?"

"They're not with us right now," replied Takuya. His response brought a ghost of a smile to Koji's lips. For a moment, the light warrior thought his fiery leader would let something slip or just be downright _too _open. "We left them at home," Takuya added.

"That's fine. As your seniors, if you have any questions, feel free to ask," Tai replied. Takuya smiled in response, though his thoughts weren't so submissive. He was no one's junior, not when it came to Digimon. Based on the timeframe of their story and the details they'd been concerned about, he knew he and the other warriors had been to the digital world first and that some significant amount of time had passed there before Tai's group went. As for human world time, he assumed anywhere from half a year to a year and a half had passed until Tai's group was called.

Now that Takuya had set up a suitable situation where all their questions could be answered. He glanced at Koji and the light warrior nodded. His leader had just given him the okay to go ahead and set things up further. Takuya probably could have done it himself, but Koji always seemed to enjoy this kind of thing, at least more than he did. That in mind, he let his best friend do as he pleased.

"We trust you guys," said Koji, only giving a half truth, "so we'll be honest. There are three more of us. They were busy so they didn't come today…" Koji trailed off as the Chosen Children jumped into a triad of questions. He glared, quieting them with a show of dominance they hadn't expected. Zoe giggled at all of it.

"Also," continued Zoe, taking the reins from her two friends, "We'd like to ask if you could take us to the Digital world." Matt lifted a brow at this.

"You can't get there yourself?" he asked. Takuya laughed Awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. If they didn't play this right the Digidestined would get suspicious. Then the Digital World would be lost to them again – this time it might stay that way.

"Well – 'fraid not," replied Takuya, "Never been." Izzy frowned at this. What Takuya was saying and what Izzy saw his Digivice do as well as their status as new Digidestined wasn't adding up. His Digivice had more data on it than the D-3s and based on past experience (even if it _had _only happened once), new digivices always retained the functions of the old, plus something new. The young tech genius decided to look into this later, preferably when he could consult Gennai.

"We would love to take you," beamed Kari. Takuya nodded dumbly, finding himself thinking her smile was adorable instead of keeping his thoughts on the more important subjects at hand. Tai agreed with his sister, not catching the look in Takuya's eyes. He was prepared to take them now, but after a comment from Joe about waiting until their friends awaken, Tai said it would be best if they waited.

"Well," started Zoe, standing to her feet, "We should go. It's already past eleven." None of them had realized how late it was and if the three warriors didn't get going within the next hour or so, they'd risk missing the last train. The warriors were saying bye when Kari made a bold move, a move that _did not _go unnoticed by her brother: she asked Takuya for his cell number. Tai could only stare in disbelief as they made the exchange. Kari did the same with Zoe, who said she wanted to get to know her, soon after. As Zoe went around collecting numbers from the other girls in the room, Tai approached his sister.

"Why did you ask for his number?" he inquired. Kari sighed, rolling her eyes in recognition of his protective brother mode.

"We need to be able to keep in touch with them. He seemed to be their leader, so being able to speak to him is priority, no? Don't blow this out of proportion, Tai."

Tai opened his mouth to argue. _He _didn't think he was blowing anything out of proportion. Unfortunately, the crest bearer of courage found nothing to say. Kari's logic was sound and he had no rebuttal. He still didn't like the situation though. Unfortunately for him, his sister didn't seem to care whether he liked it or not; poor Tai.

Zoe rejoined her friends once she was finished collecting numbers. She was so happy she seemed as if she was floating. Takuya smiled fondly at her as she came his way; he was happy she finally found other girls she could truly relate to. Who knew they'd meet so many women who knew of Digimon the way they did?

"Takuya," called Kari, pulling the boy from his thoughts, "I'll call when our friends wake up." Takuya simply nodded, smiling before he, Zoe, and Koji left.

"So, Kari," started Yolei a few minutes after the door closed. Kari knew what was about to happen and apparently, so did Mimi. She'd led Tai to his room, giving the excuse of checking on their friends the moment Yolei started walking towards his sister. Sora giggled as Tai followed Mimi, oblivious to the conversation about to be held. They boy really was a dense one sometimes.

"He was hot." Kari sighed; she had a long talk ahead of her.

* * *

Zoe, Takuya, and Koji had just boarded their train when the blonde smirked. She looked to Takuya while Koji made a call to his brother. The light warrior was filling the elder brother in on tonight's happenings.

"I saw you, Taku."

"Saw me what?" He asked, raising a brow and shooting her a funny look. Zoe only smiled in response, a mischievous smile.

"I saw you staring at Hikari," she replied, eliciting a blush from the boy. Takuya sputtered, trying to find something to say, but Zoe continued, "Don't try to deny it. It was so obvious. You like her or something, Taku?"

Takuya shut his mouth and thought about it. Takuya found Hikari to be beautiful – excessively beautiful. Aside from Zoe, she was the only other girl he thought to be so attractive. The only difference between the two being Zoe's status as almost-yet-not-quite-family. So Kari was the only one he could (in his opinion) look at with _interest. _He could admit he was interested in her, but he wouldn't go so far as to say he liked her yet.

"She's cool, so far anyway. Cute too," he understated, thinking it best not to clue Zoe in on his actual thoughts on her looks, "but I wouldn't say I like her like that right now."

But later that could change. He knew it and Zoe probably knew it too.

"Right," nodded Zoe, an odd look in her eyes. Like the initial train ride, the rest of it was passed in small talk or comfortable lapses in conversation.

* * *

Takuya yawned as he walked into his house. The day had been a very long one for him and he wanted nothing more than to sleep – after he ate, that is. It was past midnight now; he would have been home earlier if he hadn't walked Zoe home, but his father's teachings would allow no such thing. Taking his shoes off at the door and slipping into his house shoes, Takuya walked deeper into his home.

"I'm home," he called as he looked into the living room. The room was large. There were two couches, a coffee table, and a flat screen mounted on the wall; a ceiling fan hung overhead, rotating and breathing cool air into the room. Sitting on one of the couches were his parents.

His mother, Yuriko, a young brunette with short hair was snuggled up against his father, Hiroaki, a young man with short black hair that didn't even make it to his ears. Hiroaki was alternating between reading a book and watching TV with his wife. Takuya's father looked to him, a steely gaze set on his face.

"Why were you out so late?" his father asked.

"Well, we lost track of time at a friend's house. Zoe, Koji, and I, that is. After that I walked Zoe home," replied Takuya carefully, "Sorry for being out so late," he added, "Sir."

Hiroaki nodded and the boy sighed in relief. Hiroaki was a hard man. He believed whole-heartedly in discipline and a stern hand. Takuya didn't even think of crossing him. The warrior of flame often wondered how he and his mother got together. It didn't quite make sense to him.

"Your dinner is in the microwave, sweetie." Takuya smiled.

"Thanks, mom," he replied. Yuriko was a very kind-hearted woman, the polar opposite of his father. Takuya, found it hard to believe there was a mean bone in her body – but there were some _rare_ moments when his dad did something to make her angry that proved otherwise. She was fun loving and enjoyed taking risks. Between the two of them, Takuya could see how he'd developed some of their personality traits. His fun loving side came from his mother and the side that forced him to take action and get serious was from his father.

Takuya walked into the kitchen and warmed his food, while he was waiting, he poke his head back into the living room and asked if Shinya, his younger brother, was already asleep. His father looked over him, raising a brow as if to ask his eldest son if he had really just asked such a thing.

"Right," said Takuya in response to the look, "Of course he is."

The warrior of fire ate quickly then went up to his room to sleep. He'd had a long day, and the moment his head hit the pillow he was out. It was time for him to dream, he hoped.

* * *

"Gennai, thank you for caring for me. Thank you for this kind act as well," said Ceresmon as she looked at the portal that would lead her to the real world. Now that they were safe from Marsmon, thanks to the distraction from his Digidestined, she hoped she could get something done now.

"It is nothing, but are you sure about this? You're positive that Davis and his friends were not the children you saw?" asked the old man. Ceresmon nodded, she was sure. She'd seen the children who defeated Lucemon clearly and they weren't the same as the children who had helped her escape Marsmon.

"I shall find them. I am in dire need of their assistance, and so I shall seek it. You must seek the help of your children as well. This threat – it may be too much for either group to handle alone," replied Ceresmon.

Gennai nodded and let the Olympian Mega pass into the real world, the portal closing behind her. The old man sighed at the new information he'd received. When she told him of seeing children at the defeat of a powerful digimon he assumed he meant the Chosen Children (she hadn't gone into such great detail with that part of her tale). She was speaking of a different group of kids though.

"If these children are not the ones I recruited… who are they?" Wondered the old man to himself. They couldn't have been new Digidestined, and that part of her tale was far before his time if so, then did that mean she was speaking of the first children? The original Digidestined that were like a fleeting legend?

Gennai sighed again. The Digital World was in peril and with this new information he could only imagine how things would turn out. He knew one thing though, he hoped to be able to speak with his Digidestined soon. There was much they needed to discuss – much indeed.

* * *

Kari sighed in relief, Yolei had stopped questioning her and she was so thankful. She was tired now and wanted nothing more than to go home and rest, but she could see that wasn't going to happen. About an hour after Takuya and his friends left (and 30 minutes after Yolei left her alone, though she had been forced by Sora), Izzy said they needed to talk. Once everyone got comfortable again, sitting on the couch and around the small coffee table, he brought up the inconsistencies of what Takuya said about not being able to go to the digital world. Matt agreed with him, finding it odd as well.

"But then, what does this mean?" asked Cody.

"Yeah," piped in Yolei, "They were obviously Digidestined, I mean, they even tried passing off that Digivice as a game. If they were just trying to trick us I don't think they would have been so secretive and unwilling to trust us." Sora agreed with Yolei here. The three of them, though nice enough, had an air of suspicion about them for the majority of the night until they said they could trust the Chosen Children – a declaration that wasn't said until the Chosen Children spilled their whole adventure.

"Now that I think about it," said Matt, "they never actually told us any of their experiences. Not even how they got their digimon."

"Maybe they just wanted to wait until their friends were with them?" offered Mimi from her spot at Tai's side. Speaking of Tai, he'd started to become more aware of her lately. He noticed how often she'd come hang with him and these days it was rare that they weren't seen together. At first he just thought she wanted to be better friends; the two of them hadn't been the closest of friends (though not hostile) even though they've gone through so much, which he thought was understandable.

They lived in two different worlds and she'd also moved away for a while. Now though, he wasn't so sure. She'd seemed to be dropping hints – but this was Mimi – the flirty member of the group. She always dropped hints – even when she didn't mean to. With that in mind, Tai wasn't sure what to make of this.

"Yeah, that might be it," said Tai, running an hand through his hair, "or they might be hiding something from us. I'm not saying it's a bad something, but we should take this as a sign that they don't trust us as much as we think."

"Well, we'll just have to fix that," said Kari, forcefully. Forceful wasn't exactly her thing so the other Digidestined were surprised to say the least. They didn't know why she was so concerned, well, most of them. The girls had an idea, of what it might be, but weren't too interested in letting the guys in on it.

Just as they were about to get back into the conversation and throw around some ideas, Davis Motomiya, the leader of the second generation Digidestined limped into the room, catching their attention. Davis was taller now, and looked a little more muscular. His maroon hair retained its usual style behind his goggles, though some of it fell over his blue eyes. He was wearing a black jacket with a flame-designed shirt beneath it, blue shorts stopping just below his knees, and black shoes.

Davis had matured, losing some of his temper, but he was still silly. He'd never lost his courage and was easier to get along with now. No one quite knew what caused the change, since it seemed to happen overnight, but they weren't really complaining either. He still fawned over Kari, though sometimes Tai swore the boy just didn't have his heart in it anymore. Davis looking so weak now, was in stark contrast to his usual appearance; it unsettled them. Tai helped Davis sit down with them and asked the boy what had happened. They needed answers.

"We went to check on Gennai," he started, "and when we got there we were attacked. The Digimon said his name was Marsmon. He was strong." Tai raised a brow at this. Ken was with him, so Imperialdramon should have been able to handle it.

"So he was able to surprise you two?" asked Joe. He couldn't imagine them losing unless they were separated. When Davis shook his head, his friends were confused and worried. If Marsmon hadn't surprised them… then how strong was he?

"He gave us the first hit. Imperialdramon gave it his all… and then – then Marsmon tore us apart. He was a monster," growled Davis, remembering what the Digimon had done, "He was stronger than Armageddemon – way stronger. We – we couldn't win." His fists clenched as he looked down in shame.

* * *

Ceresmon appeared in the real world in a park. She looked around, finding the real world to be very – different. As she took a more human form, she walked towards the lights of the city she understood to be Odaiba thanks to Gennai. She would start here and hope she could find the children she was looking for.

"I must return what was lost."

* * *

To Be Continued…


	6. The Search Begins

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon in any form. All characters and Digimon of this story are owned by their respective owners. No copy right infringement intended.**

**AN: **It's been a while guys. I would have had this up sooner, but I had to get my study on you see. I just finished my finals for the year, so I didn't really have much time to type. Now that I'm out for the summer though, I should have more time. That said, I hope to bring a decent number of chapters over the break. Also, thanks for the reviews. They got me motivated even after taking off so much time to study. By the way, since I'm kind of fed up with the site messing with my scene dividers, I've just decided to use my own. Hopefully they're pretty obvious.

Well, on with the show.

**The Search Begins**

Tai waited for Davis to calm down before asking him to explain exactly what happened. After taking a breather, Davis did just that.

"It began when Ken and I arrived at Gennai's place. He was in danger and there was this female digimon with him."

==X==

Davis and Ken had spent hours searching for Gennai; nearly a day. They didn't know why he insisted on moving around so much these days. He had multiple safe havens, but it's not like he would be attacked so why even migrate between them? Unfortunately, as fate would have it, the two of them were about to see that Gennai was not just being paranoid.

Davis and Ken looked towards Gennai upon their arrival at one of his many safe havens. His expression was tense and he was giving his best glare to a half man, half Jaguar Digimon across from him. Not wasting any time Davis, Ken, Veemon, and Wormmon got between him and the seemingly injured Digimon next to him. Marsmon looked at the humans, curious of their presence. Unlike the old man next to Ceresmon, he could tell that the children were not digital beings. Wondering why they were here, he asked who they were.

"We're your worst nightmare!" exclaimed Davis, slipping into some of his younger tendencies, Ken Ichijouji, Davis' best friend and one of the second generation Digidestined, put his arm on Davis' shoulder. He is the bearer of the crest of kindness. Ken has dark blue hair that parts on the left and reaches past his chin, blue eyes, and a pale skin tone. Though his favorite color is still gray, he no longer wears his long-sleeved shirt, exchanging it for a blue shirt and a grey jacket. He still wore grey pants and black shoes.

Ken, once burdened by his deeds as the Digimon Emperor was finally able to let it all go. Now that his initial adventure in the digital world has ended with the defeat of Armageddemon, he often spends his time with Yolei and Davis. His family moved from Tamachi to Odaiba not long ago, so he's had plenty more time with them. Personality wise, Ken hasn't changed much. He's still the somewhat quiet, kind, super genius he was after Armageddemon's defeat. If anything he's acquired a better sense of humor and is now more outgoing than he used to be; a definite side-effect from hanging out with Davis so often, not that anyone minds. The two boys complement each other pretty well and Ken could easily keep the hot head in check.

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't antagonize the enemy before a fight anymore," sighed Ken. Davis looked to him, scratching his head. He had said something like that hadn't he?

"Uh… whoops?" Ken shook his head and looked to Marsmon only to find the Olympian mega trying to stifle a laugh. Marsmon thought the Maroon haired child was hilarious. A mere human was supposed to be his worst nightmare? Preposterous.

"Thou art humorous, child," stated Marsmon, no longer caring for their identities, "but move aside. My business is not with thee," he added, crossing his arms.

"Davis," called Gennai, "You and Ken must take Ceresmon and run. This opponent is a Mega level." Davis gave a funny look at Gennai's behavior; he was acting more worried than he should have been. This wasn't the first mega he and Ken had ever fought. He thought of BlackWarGreymon, Daemon, MaloMyotismon, Kerpymon, and Armageddemon. Davis didn't think that anything could be as bad as that last one. Besides all that, he wasn't the type to leave people in danger. He wouldn't let Gennai try and fight this guy alone.

"Don't worry, we got this guy, right Ken?" Ken simply nodded and before Gennai could protest Veemon and Wormmon digivolved into ExVeemon and Stingmon before DNA digivolved into Paildramon and finally digivolving once more into Imperialdramon Dragon Mode.

"Please stop!" yelled Ceresmon, seeing that the humans and Imperialdramon intended to fight, "Marsmon is not someone you can take on." She could tell Imperialdramon was strong, exceedingly strong, but he was nowhere near Marsmon's level. Davis and Ken were about to ask her what she meant, when Marsmon interrupted.

"Ye children intend to engage in glorious battle with me?" inquired Marsmon, a vicious smile making its way onto his lips, "This is good; the digimon looks strong. I shall give ye the first strike. Have at me." Davis' temper flared and he was tempted to say something else, but Ken glared his way. Calming down, he asked Ken if they should go ahead and fight him.

Ken, being the smarter of the two, could see that Marsmon was very confident in his skills. A little too confident in his opinion, considering he was staring down the imposing form of Imperialdramon. Still, this was the only chance they'd have to end the fight without there actually being a fight. Despite a nagging feeling in the back of his mind, Ken told Davis they might as well try.

"Awesome!" Yelled Davis, pumping his fist at his side, "Imperialdramon, show him what you got!" Imperialdramon growled, the cannon on his back pulling in energy. Bracing for the recoil, Imperialdramon fired.

"**Positron Laser**!" Imperialdramon's attack cut across the earth, razing it as it neared Marsmon. The Olympian mega didn't flinch; he made no move to dodge and his arms remained crossed as the laser crashed into him.

"He didn't even try to block?" asked Davis, bewildered. A cloud of smoke blocked their line of sight, but Davis was sure nothing could take an unguarded direct hit from Imperialdramon's Positron Laser. Scratching his head at how odd the mega digimon had been, Davis turned to Ken. The genius had a contemplative look on his face at how easy it had gone, but otherwise paid it no mind. He had faith in Imperialdramon's power as well.

"Shall we go before Marsmon wakes up? We need to get Gennai and his fri-" Ken was cut short by Ceresmon's voice.

"Look out!"

"**Flaming Break**!" Ken and Davis turned just in time to see Marsmon emerge from the smoke. He was smiling, steam coming off his body from the heat of Imperialdramon's attack. Aside from that he didn't look like he'd been scathed in the slightest as he lunged at them, his fist flaming.

Ken and Davis were shocked; they couldn't believe their eyes. The Mega had taken a Positron Laser with no injury whatsoever. Before the two of them could compose themselves, it was already too late. Marsmon's attack landed at Imperialdramon's feet and despite the difference in size, the Olympian Mega's pillar of flame tossed Imperialdramon back and the wave of heat threw Davis and Ken as well.

The three of them flew through the air, before they crashed into the ground, unconscious. Imperialdramon de-digivolved into Veemon and Wormmon as Marsmon turned away from them, his cape billowing behind him in the wind.

"That was moderately enjoyable. They were decent opponents," he grinned, "Now then, Ceresmon, it is time for thee to come with me."

==X==

"I don't really know what happened after that; next thing I know I woke up here," finished Davis, "That Marsmon… He was unreal." Tai nodded, patting his younger friend on the back. He knew it must have been a large blow to Davis' pride to be defeated so easily. Kari got up and gave her friend a hug. It wasn't often she would hug Davis, she never wanted him to get the wrong idea, but she could tell the boy needed it right now.

"I guess we'll have to wait until T.K. wakes up to find out how they escaped," commented Matt. Izzy begged to differ, he was sure he could just contact Gennai and he intended to do so. He wanted to have all the information as soon as possible so they could start working on some sort of plan. Opening his laptop, Izzy tried contacting him.

==X==

Ceresmon sat on a park bench in Odaiba. She'd discovered when she got here that being in possession of the spirits belonging to the Ten Legendary Warriors allowed her to feel where they were in a way. It wasn't strong enough for her to know their exact location, but she did have a general direction and while she could tell some of them had been in this city at some point, they weren't here anymore. Unfortunately, she currently had no way to reach them.

Ceresmon had learned a little about the human world from Gennai before she left, and one thing he'd insisted on telling her about was the train system and how it worked. Considering the time of night, she knew the last train was already a lost cause and she'd have to wait before she could use one to get her where she needed to be – wherever that was. She figured she'd be able to find out where she needed to go if she had a map, but she didn't know where to find one of those either.

Sighing to herself, Ceresmon decided to do the only other thing she could think of – try and reach out to the warriors through their spirits. Concentrating, she cupped her hands around a bundle of light that had appeared out of thin air.

"Please… Hear me."

==X==

Takuya opened his eyes; light bearing down on him from above. With a groan he held his hand up to block the rays. He looked around, and quickly concluded that he was _not _in his room. Sitting up, he took another quick look around the white space, hoping to find some way out as he wondered what was going on. He'd gone to sleep, he remembered that, so he assumed he was dreaming, but this was odd. Usually, if he became cognizant of his dreaming, he could wake himself up or something, but right now he couldn't do a thing.

"This is so freaky…" he mumbled as he stood.

"Please."

Takuya's eyes darted to and from at the sound of the voice, still he found no one.

"Please… Hear me." The voice sounded pleading and the warrior of flame was now a little more concerned.

"Warriors… please… "

Takuya's eyes widened. Whoever was calling out knew about the legendary warriors. He looked around again, running through the space this time, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever was calling. He knew the voice, while feminine, wasn't Lady Ophanimon. That revelation only served to worry him. Why wouldn't _she _be the one calling for the warriors?

"Please… Help."

Just like that, the voice vanished and Takuya woke up, panting. His sheets were all over the place and his heart was pounding. He reached for his phone to try and get in touch with one of his friends when Koji's ringtone barked out. Answering, he started telling Koji what happened, not caring about why his friend had called just yet. When he finished the other end was silent for a moment.

"Koji?" asked Takuya, wondering why he'd gone silent after something so important.

"You too, huh?" Takuya stared at the phone in brief confusion before it clicked. He hadn't been the only one to have that dream. Koji told him Koichi had had the dream too and after that, the two of them called up their other comrades to see if they had also gone through the same thing. Once everyone had confirmed that they'd had the same dream, Takuya called for a meeting at the park after school. They had a lot to discuss.

==X==

Kari sighed as she walked to her brother's place. School hadn't felt the same knowing that her friends were injured. Yolei hadn't come to school either, opting to stay at Tai's and take care of Ken. With no one to talk to, she decided to try her hand at her newest friends. Taking out her phone she made a call to Zoe. She waited for a bit as the phone rang before it was picked up.

"Hello?" said Zoe.

"Hi, Zoe. It's Kari."

"I know," she giggled, "what's up?"

"I just wanted to talk," replied Kari as she stopped at a crosswalk. The Light had just turned green and the cars were moving along, "one of our friends woke up."

"Oh," replied Zoe, some voices behind her sounding urgent.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing really," she replied, "just trying to get our other friends caught up on what we told you guys and what you told us, you know? So, what happened when they woke up?"

"Well, the one who was up first was Davis. Ken and T.K. are still sleeping as far as I know. He told us what happened to him." Kari proceeded to retell what she knew to Zoe, who listened quietly, responding every once and a while. The story took a while, so much time in fact that Kari was getting fairly close to Tai's.

"That's horrible," gasped Zoe upon hearing how easily Imperialdramon was defeated, "she didn't really think she could Gage the Digimon's strength, but the Kari made him sound strong and the fact that an enemy stronger than their greatest threat had appeared was nothing to belittle.

"Yeah…" Replied Kari, trailing off as she neared her brother's place, "So how are you?"

"I'm fine, bu-" Zoe was cut off suddenly, a voice becoming clear in the background.

"Zoe, come on."

"Yeah. I'm coming Taku, geez!" yelled Zoe before she returned to her conversation, "Sorry. Gotta go. I'll call you later, bye!" Zoe hung up after that and Kari didn't really mind since she was just about to knock on her brother's door.

==X==

"Remind me to never answer the phone around you, Taku. You're so rude," frowned Zoe as she took her seat next to him. The six of them were sitting in the park, their usual meeting place. It was around 5:30; Takuya had only gotten out of soccer half an hour ago and the others gathered as quickly as possible.

"Sorry Zoe," replied Takuya, offering her a sheepish grin. She sighed and waved it off.

"Can we just get started already?" asked Koji, already getting a little annoyed.

"Yeah, yeah," Takuya responded, "don't get your bandana in a twist." Koji raised a brow, seemingly asking if his friend has seriously just said that.

"Shut up and start, idiot," the light warrior frowned. Takuya smiled his way, feeling somewhat accomplished. He knew his insult was a lame one, but it had worked nonetheless, maybe even a little better than usual since it was so stupid; that alone seemed to have upset his best friend.

"Ok." Started Takuya, the smile leaving his lips as he grew serious, "Before we get to the dreams, we've got news about last night." Koichi, Tommy, and J.P. grew curious at this. They hadn't heard from their friends at all last night and were curious about what had happened, but they hadn't expected anything noteworthy enough to need such a serious mood – until Takuya started talking.

"We met people who knew about Digimon."

"You What?!" interrupted Tommy, yelling in surprise. J.P. sat there slack jawed and Koichi hummed amusedly.

"They were the ones who had Taku's D-Tector," Zoe informed, "and that's not even the half of it," she added. From there, Zoe, Takuya, and Koji proceeded to tell their other friends about everything that occurred the night before. Their three friends listened, similar questions rising in their minds.

"They never mentioned Trailmon?" asked Koichi.

"No Lady Ophanimon either?" J.P. inquired worriedly, "We need to meet this Gennai and Azulongmon. Maybe one of them can tell us What happened to her."

"If they're old enough," replied Koji, "the odds are against us on that. You know what six months there was in the real world. Comparing that to how much time passed here since the end of our adventure – thousands of years could have passed."

"Ever the optimist," teased Takuya, smiling.

"Says the one who couldn't stop making up absurd scenarios on the train," Koji returned. Takuya frowned, grumbling. He could see that this round would not be going to him.

"Don't get started you two," interjected Zoe. She wasn't up for the two of them bickering right now.

"Moving on," said Koji, "What of our dreams?" Everyone grew silent. They were worried, yet excited. This was their first direct contact with anything digital since the end of their last adventure, but it certainly didn't seem to be starting off on a good note. Not only was the one seeking them out in need of help, but it wasn't Lady Ophanimon. Their worries were starting to pile up and the implications of the Chosen Children's adventure were beginning to be confirmed. Lady Ophanimon was no longer in power and something happened to her.

"All we can do now is wait it out," said Takuya, bringing the others from their thoughts, "Whoever they were, they'll contact us again. We won't be confused this time so we should try our best to respond. Who knows, maybe with any luck, we'll be able to find them somehow."

==X==

It had been a few minutes since Tai let Kari in and she was already relieved, sitting on the couch were T.K. and Ken. The two of them were awake and she couldn't be happier.

"Hey, Kari," T.K. smiled.

"We were waiting for you, sis. T.K. was about to tell us how they all got away." Kari nodded and made herself comfortable on the floor next to her Brother and Mimi. Izzy was across the table, sitting on the floor with Matt, Sora, and Cody. Yolei, was of course, next to Ken. Their three injured friends were sitting on the couch and Yolei was on its arm, fussing over Ken affectionately. Joe was on the other arm of the couch, trying – without success – to get Davis to take an aspirin. He didn't know why the stubborn boy wouldn't do it. It's not like it would harm him or anything.

"So," started Tai, "the sooner we get this over with, the faster we can try to help Gennai."

"Well," T.K. started, "I got there just in time to see Davis and Ken go down. Marsmon was about to attack Gennai and another Digimon when I showed up. Hoping I could help, I had Patamon digivolve to MagnaAngemon. I didn't plan on defeating Marsmon or really fighting him for that matter, but I thought I could at least distract him long enough for everyone to escape."

Based on the injuries he'd returned with, the others assumed that hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped.

"MagnaAngemon did what he could, but Marsmon was beyond us. It didn't take him very long to subdue MagnaAngemon. He was so strong that even I was injured from thee attack he used on MagnaAngemon. Thankfully, before he could delete him, that injured Digimon intervened. Gennai called her Ceresmon and apparently, she had some sort of deep connection with Marsmon. She'd yelled for him to come to his senses, not that it worked."

Sora frowned. It sounded like their internal problems had dragged them all in. She didn't understand how wrong she was yet; she didn't know the true danger waiting. Marsmon was only the tip of the iceberg.

"Ceresmon digivolved – I think," T.K. continued, "She turned into a giant earthen bird. Her digivolution didn't last long; I don't think she had enough energy to sustain the form for any decent length of time. Before she changed back though, she and Marsmon fought. She was stronger, and was able to injure him in one attack, but the power of their clash caused some pretty heavy damage. It knocked me out and trapped me under some rubble. When I woke up she and Gennai were gone. Davis and Ken were still out and that's when I made my way to the nearest TV so I could get back here."

Tai nodded, now that they had the full story he asked Izzy if he could get in touch with Gennai. They had a lot of questions and needed to tell him about the new Digidestined. While Izzy got to work on that, Tai took the time to tell Davis, Ken, and T.K. about their meeting with the warriors.

"You guys missed quite a bit too," said Tai, proceeding to tell them all about what happened with Takuya and his friends.

==X==

Marsmon walked up the steps leading to the summit of the digital Mount Olympus. Dark clouds blotted out the sun and thunder boomed overhead; a clear sign that Jupitermon was around. He assumed Jupitermon would be somewhat disappointed finding out that Ceresmon would not be returning with him, but Marsmon figured there was nothing he could have done about that. Whether those humans had appeared or not, Ceresmon could have gained enough time to reclaim her full power and the results would not have changed.

Upon reaching the summit, Marsmon met Mervamon's gaze.

"She is not with thee?"

Marsmon shook his head, telling her he would explain when Jupitermon was present. The two of them walked through the corridors of the building at the summit, soon reaching a large round room. In the center there was a table, twelve chairs encircling it. Large white columns reached to the ceiling, keeping it up. They waited, but not for very long. Jupitermon made his way into the room, the shadows shrouding his form, much like they did for Mervamon and Marsmon.

"Thou have failed?" asked Jupitermon, taking a seat. Marsmon and Mervamon sat as well as the Mega level war digimon nodded.

"There was much in my way. I shall explain." Marsmon relayed his little battle with the Digidestined before telling Jupitermon what Ceresmon had done. The other two Olympian Mega's listened intently until the end.

"I see," said Jupitermon, "Give Ceresmon no more time to recuperate. Find her caretaker and we shall find her. Go." Marsmon gave a swift nod, stood, and walked out of the room. The search for Gennai and Ceresmon was underway.

==X==

"Gennai said we can come see him now," said Izzy. Tai nodded and the Digidestined made their way to his computer. Kari opened the gate and they were pulled into the digital world. They met up with their partners and after a brief walk, arrived at one of Gennai's Safe Havens. It was a field of flowers, encircled by tall cliffs. It was a pit of sorts, a small entrance on the ground level with the sun shining into the hole from above. The elderly man was waiting for them and when they arrived he greeted them warmly before getting down to business.

"I'm sure you all have questions, but first I must tell you of the danger the Digital World may now be facing," said the elderly digital existence. Gennai summarized what he'd heard of Ceresmon's story and the Digidestined started to realize that what they'd gotten caught up in wasn't just some little internal problem.

"Ceresmon needs your help," said Gennai, "but she does not think it will be enough." Davis, until just recently, would have taken offense to that. Things were different now though. He'd had the chance to witness Marsmon's might and there were supposed to be more Digimon as strong as him? Stronger even?

"But who will she get help from?" asked Matt.

"She's gone to the human world in hopes of finding the children from her story. The original Digidestined."

"But that was thousands of years ago!" yelled Davis.

"Yes, thousands of years in the digital world. Davis, you understand that we did not always share the same flow of time, do you not? The original Digidestined are probably not too much older than any of you." Davis nodded slowly, taking in Gennai's words. He'd forgotten about the whole time thing for a while.

"What can we do to help, Gennai?" Kari inquired.

"I only ask that you try and help Ceresmon search. Hopefully there will be more progress if two forces are working to find them."

The Digidestined agreed; the search for the Ten Legendary Warriors was on.

* * *

To Be Continued…


End file.
